YHP 36

As soon as Ho-jin left Jeong-in’s house, his nose started bleeding.

Ho-jin lowered his head, blocking the gushing blood with his hands. Blood that he couldn’t catch flowed through the gaps in his fingers, staining the floor. He quickly wiped the floor while pinching his nose with a handkerchief. It finally stopped after flowing for a long time, only after he got into the car.

He threw the completely blood-soaked handkerchief away and sighed, sinking into the seat. Beside him, an empty bottle of suppressants lay exposed.

The two weeks’ worth of suppressants had disappeared in just one day. It was because he had been swallowing the pills about once an hour all night, worried that Jeong-in, who was several times more sensitive to pheromones than others, might be in trouble. But the reason why his stomach felt uncomfortable as if he had indigestion even though he hadn’t eaten anything, wasn’t just that.

‘I have someone to meet.’

This feeling, similar to indigestion, started precisely from the moment he heard those words.

His heart pounded, and his whole mind churned. Even though he was the person physically closest to Jeong-in, he felt as if he had become the furthest away.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out the identity of this emotion that resembled anxiety. He could admit it cleanly. This was jealousy, like a ripe apple. Even if it didn’t show on the surface right now, it could rot and fester with just one wrong step.

“…What kind of person is he?”

He was very envious of Hyojin, whose face and age he didn’t know. And he was curious. What kind of character did he have, and what did he do? Where and how did he meet Jeong-in, and what words and actions did he use to win Jeong-in’s heart? How did he become Jeong-in’s person?

But no matter how much he racked his brains, it wasn’t easy to imagine someone he had never seen. The only thing he could conjure up with his meager imagination was a faint silhouette.

“……”

He thought it would be nice if relationships between people were like exercise. If he could practice little by little every day, he would definitely be able to reach his desired destination someday. That would be so easy.

Ho-jin turned the steering wheel with a bitter heart. Still, he hoped that Jeong-in wouldn’t be in pain and would have a good time tonight.

---

“R1 dominant, and you said the heat cycle ended in one day.”

He deliberately avoided his primary care physician and sought out a small hospital on the outskirts. The unfamiliar doctor’s office was filled with the headache-inducing scent of air freshener. Jeong-in tried to breathe as little as possible, staring only at his knees. The doctor began to flip through the data that had just been transferred from the lab, one by one.

“Well, the heat cycle hasn’t ended. You’ll have intermittent pain for the next two or three days.”

Various graphs were tangled haphazardly on the monitor.

“Pheromone reactions are visible. Have you had contact with an alpha recently?”

Jeong-in nodded. He had eaten food and received a massage from an alpha right before coming here.

“Are you in a relationship?”

“No.”

He answered curtly.

“First, I’ll tell you why the cycle was disrupted.”

The doctor turned the monitor slightly towards Jeong-in, pointing to a spot.

“It doesn’t seem like your body has completely adapted to the change in living environment yet. This is a phenomenon commonly seen in people who have lived abroad for a long time and returned home. Even considering that accurate prediction is impossible due to LGS, if we only look at the numbers, your next cycle should have been around early May.”

That was a terrible thing to hear. He almost died from skipping only four months, and he didn’t even want to imagine how much it would have hurt if it had happened later.

“The fact that the cycle was advanced by two months is definitely due to the alpha’s pheromones. With this level of pheromones, it might have been a light, everyday contact, but even if it was minimal, frequent exposure could have had a significant impact.”

“…But I’ve never had this happen with other alphas.”

If he was going to be affected like this, it should have happened a long time ago. It wasn’t like there weren’t alphas he had to encounter from time to time in unavoidable social situations. Even Hyo-jun, whom he saw every day, was an alpha, but he had never been affected by him in his life. So, hearing that he was suddenly reacting to an alpha’s pheromones now was just absurd.

“That’s a good point. The other person was probably an R1 dominant, like you.”

The doctor gave an unexpected answer.

“Yes?”

Dominants made up less than 5 percent of the entire heterozygote population, and there were very few R1 types worldwide. It was such an unlikely probability that he had never even considered it. What were the chances that it was Yoo Ho-jin of all people? He couldn’t help but be suspicious. The doctor continued casually.

“Depending on your condition, you can become overly sensitive to pheromones or completely insensitive. But you will always react to the maximum extent to the same type, that is, R1 dominant. As such, you may have had a mild shock when you were first exposed.”

At those words, Jeong-in recalled the day he first met Ho-jin.

It was the day the flashbacks that had been quiet for a while came crashing in. He had no doubt that encountering a strange alpha in a situation where he wasn’t feeling well had been the trigger. He was naturally displeased by Ho-jin’s existence, which had caused it, and he couldn’t help but act more fiercely.

But if Ho-jin was really an R1 dominant, everything would change. It would have just been an inevitable pheromone shock.

“Then… is it better to avoid meeting him as much as possible in the future?”

“No. It’s the opposite. You should meet as often as possible.”

The doctor said as if it were obvious.

“You already know that you can expect some pain relief from the alpha’s pheromones, right? Moreover, R1 dominants are so rare, so if possible, it would be helpful to have regular relations with mutual consent.”

“…Excuse me?”

Even after saying something ridiculous, the doctor’s expression was perfectly calm.

“It would be even better if you bonded. There have been two cases overseas where alphas with the same type have bonded and received a complete cure for LGS.”

“Cure…”

It was like a dream. But the conditions that came with it were too much.

“……”

It was bonding that had driven Jeong-in’s grandfather to his death.

It was caused by doubly bonding with a wife who had already bonded with someone else.

Alphas and omegas who have bonded are forever subordinate to each other. But as much as they live with half of their body filled with the other’s pheromones, their blood cannot withstand it and rots unless they constantly receive new pheromones from each other. The same is true if they separate or if one of them dies.

When his wife died early, he became someone who could never contact another heterozygote for the rest of his life. And as Jeong-in, who inherited half of the omega Won-kyung’s blood, was born, he began to rush towards death.

As long as the person who gave half of his genes was an omega, it was a threat to him no matter what Jeong-in’s type was. No one knew, but he was even a child with expression factors in his body, so how much more would it have been? Now that technology has advanced and there is a way to store and use the pheromones of the bonding partner in advance, there was no such technology during his grandfather’s lifetime.

Nevertheless, he cherished Jeong-in. He didn’t care even if everyone dissuaded him. Knowing that his body was rotting every time he held the child, he kissed Jeong-in’s forehead, caressed and soothed him as if he were handling the most precious jewel in the world, and lived with him in his arms.

“…I can’t do things like bonding.”

It’s not just because he feels repulsed by sexual contact. Jeong-in didn’t want to feel sorry for anyone anymore.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about it. Even around the time he first manifested, he thought that he might meet someone he loved and get married like his dads, and even bond.

But as he felt his body gradually weakening due to the heat cycle, he gave up halfway, and after learning about his grandfather’s death, he stopped thinking about it even more.

This weak body will definitely not live long. It’s really a shame, but maybe he’ll leave the world before his dads.

It’s selfish to promise someone forever with a body that can’t even be sure of the next 10 years. And if he really meets someone he loves, he doesn’t want to make them like his grandfather, who was left alone in the world and died lonely.

“Haha, well, that’s a long way off. You never know what will happen, so let’s start by meeting often.”

“…Excuse me, doctor.”

Jeong-in didn’t answer those words. Instead, he asked something else.

“Can you discard today’s examination results?”

“Yes?”

“It would be difficult if it were leaked to the outside.”

“Don’t worry. Medical records can only be accessed by the patient themselves.”

An answer that seemed obvious came back, but the credibility was zero.

When he was on the other side of the world, it was easier because his family’s power didn’t reach even if he went a little into the countryside. But it’s different now that he’s in Korea. It wouldn’t be a problem for all of his family, especially Hyun-wook, to receive in real time what symptoms Jeong-in came to the hospital with and what tests he had.

If he hadn’t bought a few fake identities in preparation for going to the hospital for hormone problems in Korea, everything would have already reached his ears by now.

“Thank you for the examination.”

Now all that was left was a clean finish. Jeong-in took out an envelope he had prepared in advance. It was an envelope filled with only crisp new checks, worth the price of a small car.

“Please take care of the medical records. I’m asking you.”

“No, what is this… Jang Chun-sam. If you do this…”

The doctor pretended to be very flustered, but eventually secretly checked what was inside.

If he took this much for one examination, he would take care of the disposal on his own. Hoping that he was a person with a conscience, Jeong-in left the examination room.