SPM 2.7

As soon as Ian got out of the car, he frantically pressed the car key to roughly lock the door and ran across the parking lot, barely managing to calm his bursting tears. His legs running toward the hospital entrance swayed precariously.

Having rushed over in such a frantic state and pleaded at the reception desk…

“Oh, really. No. That’s difficult. It’s not allowed, so if you’re done with your business, please step aside so the patient behind you can register.”

How could people be so upright? Were they all descended from scholars…

Ian was having a very bitter taste of medical professionals’ firmness. But he couldn’t back down here.

“Please. Please, I’m begging you, sir. I really am a Wolves team official, you know? I have a business card here.”

Even though he could clearly see the person was very young, he pleaded respectfully adding “Sir,” but goodness knows where this young man had learned such cold rejection, it didn’t work at all. Pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses and alternating between looking at Ian’s ID and business card before firmly shaking his head, even the grim reaper guarding hell’s gates probably wouldn’t be this unyielding.

“You’re not even the person themseve, where do you get off lying…”

You little punk, if I weren’t from the land of Eastern courtesy, you’d be in big trouble, man! Ian suppressed his boiling anger and clung to the front desk again.

Couldn’t he get through if he pleaded a bit more? Ian poured out his circumstances again with a tearful face.

“Just please tell me that one thing. Whether player Terrence Hunt was brought to the emergency room yesterday… I’m really in a huge hurry. That friend is very sick right now…”

“No. As I told you earlier, we cannot give out patient information to other people.”

“But I keep telling you I’m a fellow team employee…”

Ian was about to burst with frustration at the look that regarded him like some paparazzi scum who had rolled in from some corner.

But this was the last place, so there was nowhere else to retreat. It was actually suspicious how hard they were being. The hospitals he’d been to earlier weren’t this extreme.

Moreover, this was the place where he and Terrence had recently been examined in the trait medicine department, and it was the largest hospital in Kansas City.

If anyone had found player Terrence Hunt collapsed on the street, there was a high possibility they would have brought him here.

He should have registered his name as an emergency medical contact. But that was usually something married spouses or family did, so he hadn’t dared to try. Besides, up until now…

‘As if I would have registered when I was trying so hard to safely part ways.’

Having had no such feelings until this situation occurred, the regret that suddenly arose was so ridiculous that he naturally felt sarcastic toward himself. Wasn’t it really absurd? There couldn’t be a faster attitude change than this. They say you only know a person when something happens, and it turned out that applied to himself too.

But to make excuses, until just yesterday he hadn’t thought at all that Terrence would disappear leaving him behind, so it couldn’t be helped. The very idea of a one-sided imprinter leaving their imprint target didn’t make sense in the first place…?

“What on earth were you thinking when you disappeared, Terry…”

Already pulling at his disheveled hair again, Ian stamped his feet.

If something really had gone wrong with his body and they missed the golden time for treatment…

“Ah, no wayyyy!”

Like a crazy person from a comedy show screaming with his whole body, the staff member shook their head and stepped back several paces. It was behavior to secure a safe distance from a dangerous beast, but Ian was too out of his mind to notice even that shameful reaction.

“I should rather contact the Hunt family…”

Ian, who had muttered unconsciously, was tapping the screen with trembling fingers when he froze like stone.

“Damn it, what do I need to know to contact them…”

Even though they had often gone in and out of each other’s houses, since they always had busy guardians, the people they met most often were just the housekeepers working at both houses.

Now he didn’t even know the Hunt mansion’s main number, yet what was he doing tapping his phone saying he’d contact someone somewhere? He was so ridiculous to himself that it was absurd. He didn’t even notice that the hospital staff member who had been dealing with him was distancing themselves further as if trying to escape, seeing him suddenly giggle after screaming like a crazy person.

Moreover, even if he knew the contact information of someone in Terrence’s family, it would be problematic. Did he really have the confidence to press the call button if he had Bradley Hunt’s phone number?

“Haha, seriously…”

A friendly phone call with Bradley Hunt. The thought was so absurd that he let out a hollow laugh.

The person who, upon seeing Ian whose mixed-race features weren’t prominent, immediately recognized him as an Asian mixed-race outsider from the Bailey household and couldn’t hide his contemptuous gaze.

It was questionable whether such a person would pleasantly answer the phone, and even if he did, it was questionable whether he would readily give information about Terrence. Rather, he’d probably think “Oh, perfect” and try to more definitively split the two apart, which would be fortunate.

‘Still, if I had known something like this would happen, I should have found out in advance…’

He was so desperate to grasp at straws that he even felt regretful about contact with someone he’d been avoiding.

Missing person reports or tracking someone’s whereabouts were family or guardian rights, but he didn’t qualify for any of that, so there was nothing he could do. Realizing anew that he and Terrence had no legal or public relationship, Ian felt like screaming.

Just fiddling with his innocent phone, he finally touched Felicia’s name in his contacts. She answered quickly with the friendly expression “Hey, honey” before the ringtone even sounded a few times.

— Did you arrive at the hospital? Your early departure should be worthwhile.

Having briefly explained the situation this morning while getting her business card, Felicia, who roughly knew his situation, immediately asked about results.

“No… No matter how much I explain that I’m a team official, they won’t tell me anything at all…”

— That’s probably how it is. Medical information is sensitive. If they make a mistake, they could get sued by player Hunt’s lawyers.

Indeed, the kingdom of lawsuits… He resented Americans who enjoyed suing over all sorts of trivial nonsense.

— I guess I wouldn’t believe it either if I were them… Should I have gone with you after all? But Ian, what did you say your relationship was with player Hunt?

“Fr… friends.”

He mumbled excuses that he’d explain the details later and ended the call. It was a call that yielded nothing.

So he was back to square one again… Should he slip some money to that young hospital staff member who was getting farther away and about to flee? Would that make him open his mouth? With such thoughts, Ian immediately opened his wallet to count how much cash he had.

“Damn it… what’s $20…”

Of all things, there was only this one bill in his wallet.

He couldn’t shove an amount that wouldn’t even cover dinner and ask for player Hunt’s information. The staff member would definitely look at him like he was even more insane.

When he desperately turned his wallet inside out and shook it to see if there was anything more, penny coins that people wouldn’t even pick up if they were on the street came tumbling out from some corner. Shit, what is this… It was so pathetic and frustrating that he naturally started whimpering.

“Miserably broke too…”

If he had known this would happen, he should have withdrawn a bunch of cash…

I’m… not usually such a poor person… I have a decent job, and my father is rich! Rich, I tell you! He was so out of his mind that he felt the urge to scream.

“Stupid bastard… what are you doing here now…”

Stupid, you stupid fool. The self-blame was endless.

To make matters worse, his exhausted body was declaring a strike. From worrying too much, he hadn’t even felt cold, hungry, or tired until now, but his hands and lips were trembling violently, panic was setting in, and tears were pouring out again.

Ian was at the point where if Terrence appeared now, no, if he just made one phone call or sent even one message, he could do anything. He’d readily transfer the house deed if asked right now, he was amazed at his own feelings. To realize how precious Terrence was to him only when the situation had reached such extremes.

He felt like a lost child in the middle of a huge general hospital where no one paid attention to him.

“Terry…”

As Ian called Terrence’s name again and burst into tears once more, someone miraculously called his name.

“Huh? Mr. Ian?”

Ian lifted his red, wet face.

“What are you doing here? Did you just return from your business trip?”

It was Dr. Olson from the trait medicine department who had examined Ian and Terrence’s imprinting.

Business trip? What did that mean?

But before he could ask anything more, the doctor quickly grabbed the hand of Ian, who was standing there staring at him stupidly.

“If you came, you should have said something right away. This isn’t the time to be doing this here. Come quickly.”

“Huh…?”

Dr. Olson’s grip as he hurriedly pulled him along was quite strong. He was even busy making phone calls somewhere without giving him a chance to speak, so the eternal paper doll human could only flutter along being dragged again.

Following him in confusion through several corridors, stairs, and even elevators in a frantic rush, what he faced was…

“Terrence…!!”

Terrence beyond a very solid, solid glass window. The transparent thing fitted in the square window frame looked like glass but wasn’t actually glass.

“What is this…?”

Ian’s hand caressed the transparent wall that separated them.

It was thick and sturdy, like acrylic. Like the material that could stably contain the enormous weight of water and fish in an aquarium, with no gaps so not a drop of water would leak. Beyond such a window where even the air from this side wouldn’t pass through, let alone smell, Terrence sat wearing a patient gown inside the room.

Ian unconsciously rushed straight to the window.

“Terry…!”

He shouted with all his might calling him, but Terrence lifted his head very slowly. His face, with reddened eyes and looking utterly haggard, finally turned toward Ian.

“What is this… why are you like this…!”

What was this sickly appearance? Had some big accident really happened after all? Was that why he was brought here and trapped…? Thinking that all his worries from the day before had come true, Ian pounded on the transparent window with his fists.

“Ahhh, why are you trapped in this aquarium like place? Did these people imprison you? My goodness… why did you lock a person up here?”

Ian grabbed Dr. Olson’s collar, who had brought him here, and shook him frantically while screaming.

“Wait, Terry. I’ll call the police right now!”

In complete panic, he took out his phone from his pocket but ended up dropping it. So shocked that his trembling hands made him sit on the floor to pick it up, Dr. Olson urgently shouted “Whoa, whoa!” like calming a raging colt and grabbed Ian to lift him up.

“C-calm down, Mr. Ian.”

He restrained Ian, who was struggling in bewilderment and confusion, and patted his forearm.

“This isn’t an aquarium, it’s a visitation room. It’s an isolation space for perfect pheromone blocking, not forcible imprisonment.”

“What? Why is Terrence isolated?”

Locking people up arbitrarily, isn’t that illegal? Was Grace, the Bailey family lawyer’s phone number still there? Ian roughly pushed away Dr. Olson who had helped him up and glared at him with suspicious eyes.

He tried to put strength in his eyes to look resolute and threatening, but it definitely didn’t work on Dr. Olson, who was an Alpha. The doctor looked at him strangely, like looking at some oddly shaped insignificant carp.

“Huh…?”

His expression asking why he didn’t know such a thing was extremely strange.

“What do you mean why…?”

As it became clear that they were having completely different thoughts in the same place like talking at cross purposes, Ian’s face became increasingly stupid. He couldn’t properly grasp what kind of situation this was.

But the answer came out surprisingly simply from Dr. Olson’s mouth.

“Well, player Hunt is currently in rut cycle, isn’t he…”

And those words were enough to completely flip Ian over.

“What??”

Rut cycle…? Ian couldn’t believe his ears. Meanwhile, the doctor’s explanation continued.

“When player Hunt was admitted yesterday morning, he said his imprinting partner Mr. Ian was absent and couldn’t help it, that you had gone on a business trip to a distant area and even if you left immediately to come here, it would take a full day.”

“……”

“You surely know well that a dominant Alpha’s rut cycle can be dangerous to other trait bearers. Moreover, in a situation like now where it’s a one-sided imprinter’s rut cycle but the imprint target is absent, naturally if they’re not isolated and hospitalized, serious physical problems could occur…”

“Wh-what, what did you say?”

Seeing Ian’s shock, Dr. Olson’s expression became serious.

“I thought you naturally knew, but you didn’t?”

“…?”

“Originally, an Alpha’s rut doesn’t trigger easily. Unlike Omegas who experience heat cycles periodically, it usually occurs in response to a nearby Omega’s heat cycle, but player Hunt is a somewhat special case. Not as much as you, Mr. Ian, but his traits are also more pronounced than other Alphas, so his pheromone influence is strong, and his organs that receive others’ pheromones are congenitally very sensitively developed, so this level is almost in the top 0.2%…”

Dr. Olson’s words, which he was rattling off with an incredulous expression, couldn’t continue to the end.

“Stop.”

Terrence’s voice came through the speaker mounted on the wall.

“That’s enough. I’ll explain the rest.”

From inside the isolation visitation room, Terrence was speaking with a tired expression, bending his waist toward a microphone much lower than his height. Looking at such a Terrence blankly, Ian felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

His appearance that had seemed tired since the day before, the fever that morning, being unable to communicate even by text message let alone phone calls, and disappearing due to a suddenly arrived heat cycle.

Past nightmares were coming back one by one. Back then too, Terrence, who had gone into rut cycle because of him, couldn’t participate in the game and suffered humiliation while hearing contemptuous words from his family.

“Ah, no…”

Moreover, now unlike then, he wasn’t even a high school student player. He wasn’t just any ordinary pro player either.

Wasn’t he a player boasting an enormous salary, the main character who led this year’s Super Bowl to victory, a promising pro player who unfortunately missed MVP? For such a person to suffer from heat cycle damage again because of him…?

With despair that came suddenly, Ian clung to the transparent window.

“Terry, Terry…! Why didn’t you say anything?”

He clung so desperately that while speaking, the thick acrylic fogged up and spread white.

Fortunately, Ian’s urgent voice seemed to reach the other side through a microphone located somewhere, as Terrence slowly lifted his darkly sunken eyelids and stared at Ian.

Seeing that, Ian burst into tears. The person who made healthy Terrence, who had maintained his condition at its best through regular and thorough exercise every day, like this was himself. Throbbing pain spread through his pierced chest.

“You promised to contact me when you went to the hospital… Were you so severely sick that you couldn’t contact me? …Was that it?”

He couldn’t have deliberately not contacted him, and since he absolutely couldn’t believe Terrence would do such a thing, he asked with conviction, but still he shook his head.

“…No.”

At his resolute gaze, his already tattered heart sank with a thud.

A calm voice continued through the speaker.

“I told you. That I would show you.”

“…What?”

“That my feelings are real.”

The low voice that had weakly sunk continued explaining to the shocked Ian.

“If I had been bewitched only by pheromones like you claim, then I would have forcibly embraced you that morning.”

“……”

“You know, Ian. How easy that would have been. When you, knowing nothing, came to me offering pheromones while I had been barely enduring since the night before, I would have pounced on you like a beast that lost reason while you were gently giving off sweet fragrance and forcibly confined you.”

Only his pupils shone sharply in the center of his eyes that had darkly sunk from enduring the rut cycle alone. Those eyes arguing that he wasn’t a beast submerged in desire were lofty and sharp, those of an Alpha even in such moments.

The pupils that tightly closed and opened as if painfully trying to endure something were simultaneously gentle as if looking at something lovable, so Ian couldn’t grasp what he should believe.

But he knew this much. Perhaps he was sincere. His emotions fighting against beastly Alpha instincts, those emotions were…

“I’ll say it again, it’s really not.”

The Alpha saying your claim is wrong was clear and resolute, unbelievably so for someone experiencing heat.

“I hope this becomes proof of my heart.”

“Wh-what proof…?”

“That I cherish and like you enough to resist the deadly powerful flow of nature and instinct.”

Loneliness seeped through his roughly sunken voice.

“The fact that my heart was sincere then and now.”

“……”

“From before until now, I’ve loved you, only you. This is my sincerity. Sincerity that can suppress even instinct.”

His legs, which had been barely holding him up, collapsed at the endlessly heavy and serious confession.

It was as he said.

How many Alphas could endure heat without medication?

Especially a dominant Alpha whose pheromone concentration was dense enough to have great impact, and who was greatly affected by traits in his own body.

According to the doctor’s explanation, Terrence was particularly sensitive to pheromones, so his rut must be more painful now that he had one-sided imprinted.

To suppress that with reason and endure even the pain.

Ian remembered Terrence from yesterday morning when the rut cycle had already started, enduring without a single pheromone. And the perfect nothingness left in the guest room he had left, with no scent or anything remaining.

Perfectly suppressing heat cycle pheromones was something even Ian, who was also dominant and had long pheromone training, couldn’t do.

However, he suppressed his pheromones so that not even a handful would escape while simultaneously pushing away even his instinctual desire for Ian. If it had been an ordinary one-sided imprinter, no, just an ordinary Alpha walking around the streets, he would have lost his self and assaulted Ian without question.

“Go back.”

The large hand that had been touching fell away powerlessly. At the same time, Ian’s heart also fell with a thud and rolled completely on the floor.

“I’m fine, so go back.”

At his still resolute words, Ian shook his head frantically.

“H-how, how can I go back leaving you? It’s my fault that you’re enduring the rut so painfully…! Because you imprinted on me! Normally you wouldn’t have needed to be hospitalized like this. You would have just taken medicine from the beginning and gotten through it fine at home, but because of me…!”

So even if his feelings were real, the fact that the cause of this imprinting lay entirely with Ian was an unavoidable truth.

It was too obvious, and that’s why this guilt wouldn’t go away.

Ian pleaded desperately.

“Let’s go back together. How can you say that? How can I go back alone, huh?”

“No. Then it wouldn’t be proof.”

“Is that important right now…? While you’re suffering like this, is that important now!”

Ian unconsciously pounded the window roughly with his fists. No matter how solid it was, it didn’t shake even an inch, and he knew only his hands were hurting, but he couldn’t stop.

But Terrence was as solid as the thick wall separating them. Not just his body, but his stubbornness was also firmly isolated.

“It’s important.”

At his too resolute head shaking, Ian screamed roughly.

“Hey, you crazy bastard…!”

He roared so loudly that Dr. Olson, who had been nervously pacing behind them pretending not to hear their conversation, was so startled he almost fell over.

“You always said your body was your fortune! Does this make sense for someone whose body is their fortune?”

Is this guy really insane…? Confession aside and proof aside, but for someone who’s a pro to ruin his own body like this – is this even reasonable?

It was fortunate their space was blocked right now, because if it had been open, Terrence would have had his collar grabbed by Ian multiple times over. Of course, as always, his body would be rock-solid while Ian would be the one hanging pathetically from that rock.

“I hope you understand that I’m this sincere.”

As if unaffected by the harsh criticism, Terrence turned around.

“If I hadn’t gone this far, you would never have believed me at all. Where else is there more perfect proof than this? At least for me, who one-sidedly imprinted on you.”

His mountain-like shoulders swayed precariously from his turned back.

“You always come before pheromones for me. This kind of instinct is nothing. If you don’t want it, I won’t do anything. Always. This tenacious beast-like desire can’t take priority over my feelings of liking you. This is proof that you come first, that this feeling is real.”

Who proves a confession like this? His stubborn insistence was almost at the level of self-harm threats. It was so absurd he couldn’t speak.

But what was even more absurd was Terrence really trying to leave without any regrets.

“So go back. Go back and believe me. That I prioritize you over myself, and that I like you that much…”

“I-I’ll believe you!”

His heart became so urgent that Ian answered without even listening to the rest of Terrence’s words. If he left this guy like this, he’d completely separate himself from Ian like the protagonist of a tragic sad movie. What if he really dies?

“I’ll believe you. I believe you. I really, really believe you tremendously. I am truly completely believing you, Mr. Terrence!”

Strange honorifics came out naturally. But Ian didn’t notice at all that he was stammering and pleading so urgently.

He was that completely out of his mind. If he couldn’t catch him now, if he couldn’t change his heart right now, wouldn’t he be kicked out like this?

“Don’t go, Terry. Waaahhh. Ah, I’m really going crazy…!”

Seeing Terrence moving away, Ian stamped his feet.

“I’ll really believe you. I’m very, extremely, really sincere. Mr. Terrence, please don’t go…!”

Only then did Terrence, who had been moving away, stop his steps. And he spoke quietly.

“…Really?”

Whether his voice was really quiet or sounded quiet because he was far from the microphone couldn’t be properly determined, but Ian caught his voice like a ghost.

And he even noticed the heart that seemed to waver with interest in it. It was like a rabbit whose ears had grown huge after starving for 10 days and catching the sound of a very small sprout swaying in the wind, he demonstrated superhuman power at the level of a sommelier.

“Yes! Of course! Really! Really and truly!”

So please come back here and have a proper conversation with me. Ian clung to the transparent wall with his cheek squashed and shouted desperately.

“I believe your feelings. That you like me. No, that you’ve liked me continuously since long ago, I really believe it. I belieeeve…!”

Just from the words, it was a testimony that could be from some cult’s passionate revival meeting.

“So let’s go back together. I’ll do whatever you want me to do!”

At those words, Terrence’s body turned around so fast it made a whoosh sound.

“…You’re saying dangerous things?”

“What?”

“Do you know what that means?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Do you know what it means to go back home together?”

From the Alpha who had suddenly come close to right in front of Ian’s nose, a savage look flashed.

“You’re talking about spending rut together. You don’t think there’s another way for an Alpha and Omega to spend heat, do you?”

Sex.

And it meant they’d have to have rough, hot sex that wouldn’t end with just once, for several days.

At his lowered voice that seemed like a warning, Ian swallowed and nodded. He was a grown adult too, did he think he’d spoken without thinking about that?

Ian knew for sure too. What it meant to appeal to go home together with an imprinter in heat. While Terrence looked unexpectedly surprised, actually Ian had been prepared as soon as he heard about ‘rut.’

This mere body. The sick person comes first, why would he so preciously cherish and carefully preserve his body that would rot and decay when he died anyway? As the most beloved friend and passionate fan of football player Terrence Hunt, and Ian himself too…

‘My heart probably too…’

During the more than a day that he had disappeared without contact, he had known for certain. The fact that there would be no hell worse than this.

His resolution was already made.

Ian was confident as an imprint target that he could take responsibility for the one-sided imprinter. Gone was his former self who had avoided looking for any other proper way to restore their relationship, keeping an ambiguous distance and postponing resolution.

Now he intended to completely free Terrence from the anxiety of one-sided imprinting. Ian nodded with a resolute expression.

“Of course.”

Seeing Terrence’s dubious expression about whether his words were sincere, Ian drove the point home once more.

“Just trust me, Terrence.”

He even resolutely pounded his chest with his fist.

Intense gazes that seemed to penetrate the thick wall separating them shone from both of them. Of course, the afterimage of those glints were opposite colors like complementary colors.

***

What happened after that was really swift.

After a brief consultation with Dr. Olson, Ian completed the guardian registration as an imprint target that the hospital staff handed him. Now if Terrence Hunt the imprinter was in a medical emergency, Ian as the guardian would automatically be contacted.

Just before signing the documents, the face of the family lawyer Grace briefly came to mind, she had said to please never sign anything anywhere without going through her, but he shook his head and erased her voice.

It felt like he was being royally scammed with his eyes wide open, but the answer was already decided anyway. Ian, who had clearly realized his own heart, had no more hesitation.

“You do understand that applying directly at the hospital means legal registration too, right?”

“Yes.”

He knew exactly why the doctor was asking again. Registering as a legal emergency medical guardian when they weren’t even married was quite a weighty, important matter.

“You can apply for cancellation again if the imprinting is dissolved. It’s fine.”

“Your determination is remarkable. It’s rare for one-sided imprint targets to register as guardians to leave official records like this.”

“…I really don’t want to experience yesterday again.”

Never again such a terrible experience. It was truly hell itself.

While wandering around the city searching for the whereabouts of the sick Terrence, his heart had fallen and rolled on the floor countless times, and his whole body felt like it was burning in the flames of hell that boiled intensely. Something like this guardian registration that would merely be recorded as one line in documents was nothing.

Ian was now in a state of having given up all his desires. The brief disappearance of about two days was more than enough time to firmly resolve that he would do whatever Terrence wanted, no matter what.

“By the way, is it okay to leave Terrence alone like this?”

Seeing Ian worrying anxiously that Terrence might be in pain from lack of his pheromones, Dr. Olson showed a faint smile.

“He’s currently on strong doses of artificial pheromones and suppressants, so it’s fine. Of course the patient himself will be suffering and find it hard to endure, but it’s not to the point where he’d lose reason and crave pheromones. You saw he could have a normal conversation earlier.”

Shrugging his shoulders saying that’s what modern medicine was capable of, he hurriedly gathered and organized the documents on his desk.

“It’s been about three hours since the intravenous injection, and we just removed the artificial pheromones that were going in bit by bit and the IV, so it should still be fine for now.”

At his reassuring answer, Ian let out a deep sigh of relief. Though his restless pacing like parents who had lost a child remained the same.

“Now you can go home together. You said the distance from the hospital to your house is within an hour?”

When Ian nodded, he continued with a much more businesslike attitude than when he was shocked and frantic earlier, as if he finally felt he had done his job.

“You should be fine until you arrive.”

“Yes…”

“Good luck.”

Dr. Olson winked at Ian through his glasses and gave him a thumbs up.

Being cheered on for rut cycle sex, Ian awkwardly smiled back.

*

So Ian was in an even more resolutely prepared state.

Though it was a bit burdensome, since the doctor had even given him a thumbs up and entrusted him with the aftermath of Kansas City’s football hero, shouldn’t he somehow serve him comfortably and resolve everything perfectly?

Of course, serving the hero in crisis was considerably more difficult than expected.

First, the gateway from the hospital to the parking lot, the first button, wasn’t easy.

If he just sat in a wheelchair, Ian was confident he could comfortably take Terrence to the car.

Though his arms looked like only half the volume compared to Terrence’s, he was also a man, and despite the infamous reputation as a paper doll, he firmly believed his inner substance was solid. No matter how Terrence had particularly heavy weight due to his muscles, that much could be sufficiently handled by the power of wheels, that product of civilization, the beginning of human civilizational development, and alongside fire and writing, the first and greatest invention.

But when Terrence saw the hospital wheelchair Ian had brought with a bright face, he immediately turned serious, and even later strongly refused with an expression that looked like profanity would come out, so from the very beginning he tasted bitter failure in the protocol for the distinguished person.

But surprisingly, what came after wasn’t bad. When he proposed a support-type movement method where Terrence would put his arm on his shoulder as a second-best option, this time Terrence silently nodded and allowed it.

The weight of his heavy arm and the body weight that came with it was surprisingly lighter than Ian thought, but anyway Ian succeeded very well in the mission of bringing Terrence to the car, personally fastening his seatbelt and even covering his knees with a blanket, of course this process wasn’t easy either. Terrence grimaced asking where on earth this grandfather-like blanket came from, but when Ian looked very sad, only then did he barely allow the blanket to settle on his knees, and they arrived home very safely.

Throughout the journey, Terrence was mostly silent, and this continued even while arriving home and opening the front door.

Even until the moment Ian fumbled to take out his key ring from his pocket, insert it into the hole, and turn the door, Terrence was generally like a docile bear.

Even normally ferocious giant bears have docile moments. Brown bears right after hibernation don’t harm nearby humans when they come down to the river to catch salmon during spawning season, being focused only on eating due to fierce hunger.

The sight of him following along like a listless bear caught in his hand was rather heartwarming. Having already completed registration as an emergency medical guardian and seeing him so docile and obedient, Ian felt his mood lift with a sense of responsibility that he truly had to take care of Terrence.

Was this the weight of being a head of household? A man’s sense of responsibility? Somehow his heart felt touched.

Click.

“There, it’s open.”

Ian held the door with a proud face and patted Terrence’s back to let him enter the house first. After putting himself inside too and safely turning the door’s lock mechanism, the moment he turned around.

Gulp.

Cold sweat flowed unconsciously and saliva went down his throat.

Because Terrence, who he thought would be heading listlessly to his room, was standing right in front of him looking down with the fierce presence of a bear about to snatch salmon.

It was truly a predator’s presence.

“Uh…? Why? Why aren’t you going in?”

Was he the salmon…? In the ominous atmosphere, Ian asked in flustered confusion.

Then a beat later, Terrence let out a weak laugh.

“Ian…”

“Uh, huh?”

Soon his large body poured down toward him.

“I think my body hurts too much…”

Was it his misunderstanding after all? For a moment he had felt a dangerous atmosphere…? But seeing such a pitiful appearance, he must have briefly mistaken tiredness from suffering yesterday and today. Ian embraced the huge body that collapsed into his arms and comforted Terrence.

“Where does it hurt? How does it hurt? Is it very bad?”

Where else could you find such a gentle, hungry, poor bear? Something must be wrong with his eyes. Ian, dismissing the hungry bear’s glint that had been eyeing prey just moments before as some kind of mistake, urgently moved his steps.

“This won’t do. Don’t do this, let’s go lie down quickly.”

“Haah…”

“Come here. I’ll take off all your shoes too.”

After dragging him to the guest room with effort and laying him on the bed, taking off his boat-like huge sneakers, not just his jacket but even his socks, and tucking him warmly into the blanket, he couldn’t be more proud.

Was this how parents felt caring for a sick child? While feeling sorry for him, he smiled with satisfaction that Terrence was with him. Ian sat on the edge of the bed, patting over the blanket and chattering.

“Home is the best after all, right…? That’s why you should have contacted me quickly instead of being stubborn… Hospitalization, really. Saying you’d endure it all with medicine there. Why did you insist on such unreasonable stubbornness…”

Completely forgetting that he had treated Terrence as an unwelcome guest when he had barged in like he owned the place just recently, Ian went on about home.

There is no place like home. Our home is the best.

Like Dorothy’s spell when she clicked her silver shoes’ heels three times, Ian was also casting a spell on Terrence, brainwashing him so he would never attempt such reckless behavior again.

“Warm, right?”

He got distracted for a moment stroking the soft blonde hair, then belatedly noticed that Terrence wasn’t answering at all.

Looking closely, his usually clear eyes were half-closed and dead like pollack. Somehow seeming to look at him resentfully, only then did Ian snap to attention. Oops. He had been so focused on bringing the patient home that he had forgotten the most important thing.

“Wait.”

Ian jumped up from where he was sitting.

Although he had no proper experience at this age due to past trauma, as a modern person he was confident because he had theories from audiovisual materials and hearsay that were no different from others.

“Leave it all to me.”

And he hurriedly undid his belt buckle and threw off his pants first.

Being too enthusiastic, he hadn’t even taken off his outer clothes, so his upper body was still in street clothes while only his lower body was in underwear and white socks… It was a somewhat strange and perverted outfit, but it didn’t matter. Wasn’t this the most important part?

Moreover, what would happen from now on was treatment. With strong will and heart to quickly get it done and make this patient comfortable, Ian grabbed his shoes with both hands, struggling.

“I’ll… soon. Ugh… make you comfortable. Ugh. Why won’t this come off?”

Panting, he barely untied the shoelaces and threw them off, then looked at Terrence triumphantly.

“……”

“……”

He met eyes with Terrence, who looked funny with just his face sticking out from the cave-like blanket he had covered him with, but whose expression was colder than anything in the world.

“…What are you doing right now?”

The voice, lowered due to his condition, asked Ian. With the face of a sage who had comprehended the entire world and found everything meaningless.

Only then did Ian scratch his cheek with an awkward smile, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“No, I just… thought you’d be urgent…”

His bare legs under the tight underwear felt cool, so he twisted them unnecessarily.

He had enthusiastically taken off his pants first, but the order was indeed strange…? Ian glanced at Terrence, who was watching him with narrowed eyes, and took off his outer coat, placing it down carefully. He wanted to confidently throw it like when he took off his pants earlier, but his courage had diminished a bit while hesitating. Embarrassment was gradually flooding in like a tide.

Finally, when he took off even his thick winter shirt while being very cautious, Terrence spoke again.

“That’s all done now, so come here.”

He lifted the blanket, making space for Ian to lie down on the bed.

“Ah, okay.”

He happened to be in just a white short sleeved t-shirt, gray drawers, and white socks, which was embarrassing, but how grateful that he offered something to cover his body first.

With grateful and happy feelings, Ian smiled and slipped under the blanket he had lifted. And he hugged Terrence’s waist tightly.

“Terry… It hurt a lot, didn’t it? It was very hard…?”

Ian, who had been comforting Terrence over his thick sportswear, gently released pheromones.

“Leave everything to me now. Is there anywhere uncomfortable…?”

When he poked his head up to ask, Terrence slowly opened his mouth.

“…My lips hurt a bit.”

It hurts? Ian was truly surprised since Terrence rarely said he was in pain or having a hard time. This ridiculously huge and sturdy human was telling him he was weak for the first time.

Even in school days, this guy who had a cracked rib but said it was nothing and played basketball the very next day, how much must it hurt for him to be like this?

“Let me see. Does it hurt a lot…?”

Ian lifted his head and crawled up like a caterpillar to examine Terrence’s lips up close. As expected, they were chapped white from all the suffering at the hospital.

With a pitying heart, just as he was about to get up to quickly fetch Vaseline from his room, Terrence grabbed his waist.

And muttered the most ridiculous nonsense.

“If you kiss me… I think it would get better.”

The problem was that Ian had absolutely no mental capacity left to recognize it as nonsense.

To be precise, that’s how Ian was right now.

As a result of staying up all night searching desperately for Terrence, Ian currently had a screw loose in his brain and was simultaneously overheated beyond normal. The foolish action of taking off his pants before his shoes earlier was part of that.

So he didn’t notice anything. The fact that Terrence was making strange, inconsistent demands.

So Ian had no choice. He simply lowered the ends of both eyebrows with a pitying and worried heart and gently pressed his lips to the chapped lips.

Like a kiss between children, his pale lips briefly and cutely touched the hot lips and pulled away.

Somehow feeling a bit embarrassed, Ian couldn’t even meet Terrence’s eyes and just smiled foolishly. It wasn’t difficult since they were too close to make eye contact anyway.

“Does it not hurt now?”

“……”

Terrence, who had been quietly looking down at him, reached out his hand.

Perhaps the medicine administered at the hospital couldn’t contain even the heat, as his still burning hot palm gently wrapped around Ian’s waist. They had been lying on their sides facing each other on the bed, and before they knew it, they were in a tight embrace.

Ian clumsily lifted one leg onto Terrence’s thigh as his other hand guided him. Just as Terrence held him tightly, Ian’s hands naturally had no choice but to embrace his large back.

In their warm private cave, the Alpha and Omega embracing each other as if comforting wounds were boys for each other like any moment in the past, then became adults in the time it took to close and open their eyes. For such a long time they held each other quietly, sharing body heat.

“It’s okay.”

What exactly was okay? Your lips that said they hurt? Or you? Or maybe me…?

He couldn’t know for sure, but somehow Ian felt choked up.

It was because of Terrence. Even though the urgent one was surely himself, even in difficult moments like now, he was clearly this gentle guy who held back his own desires to gently melt and ease Ian’s heart.

Terrence must have noticed. The fact that Ian was trying harder than he could handle.

Knowing all of that, he must be holding and comforting him saying it’s okay, to put his heart at ease. He had always been like that. In their relationship, Ian was always the rain-soaked cat, and Terrence was the one who embraced and comforted him.

But now it was the opposite.

Ian was the only one who could save him who had become a pitiful being. In this world, only, solely himself. Only his clumsy and foolish self who Terrence had one-sidedly imprinted on.

With tender feelings, strength naturally entered his arms. He pulled the thick neck and broad back tightly into his embrace.

How long had they been gripping each other so tightly? Terrence carefully spoke in a rough tone.

“Ian. …Even now, if you’re not certain, it’s okay to stop.”

There was no confidence to be found in the voice of the Alpha who had been put in a subordinate position due to imprinting.

The person who could run across the opponent’s territory with confidence without batting an eye even if 30,000 people filling half the stadium jeered at him – Ian was the one who made such a confident person shrink so small. The shabby existence who had continuously turned away, avoided, and even ran away.

So Ian spoke with difficulty. Finally bringing out the truth he had wanted to hide.

“What are you saying? I’m perfectly fine. I’m just… nervous.”

Ian already knew about his own awkward attitude and tense body. But this was just his body remembering and fearing the situation of sexual intimacy with an Alpha because of past events. His heart was more comfortable than anything.

The person he would share his body and pheromones with from now on was Terrence Hunt, wasn’t it? The person he liked and cherished most. Ian smiled faintly and stroked the face before him.

If certainty was needed, he would give certainty.

“I want to sleep with you. I really like holding you like this now too. I like you, Terrence. I like you most in the whole world, more than anyone.”

Looking straight into the eyes that gently wavered as if measuring the truth, he softly kissed his closed eyelids.

Nothing was too precious anymore. If it was to restore him to his original state.

Until the one-sided imprinting that bound and restricted his body ended, if only Terrence could find his life without any shackles, this mere body. These memories he had only avoided and feared until now.

Even telling him his true feelings that had just surfaced.

“To the point where I don’t care what happens to me.”

Ian whispered secretly against his reddened ear.

“Okay?”

With the two hands that had been embracing his back, he gently lifted Terrence’s face.

Would you know that I couldn’t get closer precisely because I liked and treasured you most in this world? Unable to say all of his feelings, Ian sadly managed only to lift the corners of his mouth in a smile.

“Are words like this not enough…?”

“No.”

To the question asked wondering if there was something more he wanted, Terrence shook his head.

“It’s enough.”

Terrence’s lips touched Ian’s nose tip. Carefully leaving a kiss as if handling something precious and more precious. A soft kiss like flower petals falling.

“That’s all I need. If you like me. If our feelings are directed toward each other.”

The voice speaking was unbelievably trembling slightly.

“Because that’s what I’ve wanted most from the beginning until now.”

Words like a final confirmation asked at the very end. At the subtle anxiety glimpsed there, Ian smiled while brushing the blonde hair he loved up over his forehead.

But that was only for a moment.

Was it because they were holding each other with just underwear and a t-shirt? Unknown tension and excitement stacked layer by layer like pastry until finally…

“Ah…”

Hot lips pressed against each other.

The face that approached carefully and the sharp nose bridge that tilted, the afterimage of closed eyes heated Ian’s insides bright red.

“Ian.”

“Mmm…”

Gently holding both his upper and lower lips, Terrence continued to murmur Ian’s name. He seemed so tender, as if he couldn’t believe he was actually kissing him.

Each time this happened, Ian held Terrence’s body even tighter. He found him endearing as he recited his name like poetry.

While they were sweetly tasting each other’s lips, a heated tongue tip emerged and gently traced Ian’s teeth like someone knocking, tapping carefully. The delicate and tender gesture, as if not wanting to startle him, naturally made his mouth part slightly.

And the Alpha didn’t miss that opportunity.

The tongue that suddenly pushed in now greedily explored Ian’s mouth as if it had received permission, catching and intertwining with his tongue that shyly retreated. Ian let out a moan at the sensation of the pointed tongue tip gently rubbing near the base of his tongue.

“Ahh…”

His lower abdomen tingled with a tickling sensation that made him unconsciously twist his body. Of course, he absolutely couldn’t escape because Terrence’s firm thighs and calves had already greedily entangled Ian’s legs. When he squirmed unbearably, it only resulted in rubbing his body against Terrence’s.

And that movement surely encouraged the Alpha who was barely holding back and suppressing himself.

Terrence, who had thoroughly tasted Ian’s lips as if devouring them, suddenly pulled his face away. They had kissed so deeply and intensely that a thin strand of saliva connected them before snapping and sticking to his lips.

“Huh…?”

When Ian raised his hand to wipe it away, Terrence shook his head. At the same time, he extended his tongue to lick up both their saliva and swallowed it. This revealed the Alpha’s desire not to let anything they had shared disappear into thin air.

“Ian. You don’t know…”

“Mm?”

“That what you just said is exactly what I’ve been hoping and longing to hear.”

“……”

“I really wanted to hear that. Your answer that you like me.”

Terrence’s voice, which never gets breathless even when running 100 yards at full speed, carried a slightly labored breathing.

“Before showing you my pheromones.”

Ian, who had been lost in the afterglow of their deep kiss, blinked his dazed eyes and understood a bit late what Terrence was saying.

“I really wanted to hear your answer before truly showing you who I am…”

Along with those words, a heavy scent descended.

No, it wasn’t simply a fragrance.

“Thank you. For telling me.”

As he smiled and expressed his gratitude, there seemed to be a glimpse of a victor’s elation on his face. But there was no time to deeply analyze that momentary expression.

“Nngh…!”

An enormous amount of pheromones poured out from Terrence. Pheromones full of sexual implications from an Alpha entering rut.

The scent made the air heavy, practically marinating his entire body, entering through his skin and nasal passages to completely conquer Ian’s brain.

If heaven were created with fragrance, wouldn’t it smell like this? Breathing in Terrence’s pheromones, Ian trembled with his whole body. And rightly so, as he wondered if there could be another scent in the world this ecstatic.

No, perhaps it might be hell rather than heaven.

Something this seductive that completely shakes a person’s foundation and makes them feel lustful,perhaps that’s more like hell than heaven…

<To be Continued in Volume 3>