COAC 29

“Mr. Do Hyeonjun. Hmm. First, let’s get an X-ray from the orthopedics department. You have quite a high fever. Your temperature is almost up to 38 degrees.”

He had a sturdy body that had never once caught a common cold, but he had been having trouble sleeping lately. Perhaps the reason his head felt unusually heavy was because of the fever.

“Your pulse is also fast, and you’re sweating a little… Your secondary gender is omega, right? Have you ever experienced a heat before?”

At those words, his shoulders unknowingly flinched. And of all times, it had to be now, with Kim Chayeon standing right behind him. Why didn’t he leave and follow him into the examination room?

“No…, yes, I have.”

“When was your last heat cycle?”

His throat felt tight, and he answered in a voice that was almost a mumble.

“…It’s been about two weeks.”

His throat felt tight and he answered in a mumble. The hair on his head stood on end as he worried about Kim Chayeon’s reaction behind him.

“Just in case, I’ll run a hormone panel as well.”

He was flustered that a hormone panel was even being mentioned at a hospital he had come to simply for a fall. Without even having a chance to refuse, saying he was fine, he was pushed to get an X-ray of his right ankle and undergo a hormone test.

The time spent waiting for the results, sitting side by side in the waiting room chairs, was torture. The numbers on the digital clock blinking indifferently in the corner of his vision, the sound of a cough from afar, the presence of the man sitting next to him was greater than all that noise.

He glanced at Kim Chayeon, who was staring straight ahead without moving. The face, from which he could read no thoughts, added to his anxiety.

“Kim Chayeon. You can really go.”

“I’ll handle it, so mind your own business.”

In the end, silence fell again. The door to the examination room opened, and a nurse called his name.

“Mr. Do Hyeonjun, you can come in.”

The air in the examination room, which he had entered again, was heavier than before. The doctor’s expression as he looked at the monitor displaying the test results was hard to read. Is a blank expression a basic requirement for the medical profession? He tried to suppress his inexplicable anxiety by thinking of some trivial thought.

“The hormone panel results are out. Mr. Do Hyeonjun, you said you’re a recessive omega and recently went through a heat.”

He nodded. All he had to do now was hear the diagnosis that there was nothing wrong, and this dreadful situation would be over.

“The basic numbers are fine. However…”

The doctor turned the screen toward Do Hyeonjun.

“There’s a slightly unusual value in the pheromone response item.”

Amidst the screen full of numbers and graphs, there was a red text that stood out vividly.

[Suspected Imprinting Reaction]

The red bar graph that was precariously soaring up seemed to support that text, making it look even more precarious.

“What is this?”

The doctor’s fingertip pointed to the peak of the red graph.

“Here, Mr. Do Hyeonjun’s side alone shows an abnormally strong reaction.”

He stared at the monitor, but the complex numbers did not make any sense. Only the words ‘one side alone’ swirled in his mind.

“To put it simply, only Mr. Do Hyeonjun has had an imprinting reaction. The partner is either not imprinted or the reaction is minimal. This graph here is the stable response curve after pheromone exposure, and as you can see, it’s shaking unstably. This is a typical phenomenon when one is not cared for by the imprinting partner.”

The lips that had been closed for a long time finally parted.

“Then, are you saying I’m the only one who’s imprinted?”

The doctor nodded silently. Do Hyeonjun’s back, which had been leaning against the back of the chair, slowly straightened.

He could feel the presence of Kim Chayeon, who was standing behind him, stiffen ever so slightly. He was probably thinking the same thing Do Hyeonjun was thinking right now.

The doctor’s gaze turned to Kim Chayeon before returning to Do Hyeonjun.

“It’s highly likely to be the alpha you spent your most recent heat cycle with. To confirm the exact condition, it would be best for the alpha partner to also undergo a simple pheromone response test.”

It was a suggestion directed at Kim Chayeon. Do Hyeonjun bit his lip. He would probably find this whole situation disgusting, but at the same time, he would want to confirm it. The clear evidence that he was not involved in this ridiculous situation.

After a moment of silence, Kim Chayeon answered briefly.

“Let’s do it.”

The time spent waiting for the results, sitting in the waiting room again, was several times more painful than before. The two of them did not say a word until they were called back into the examination room. And Do Hyeonjun was tormented by a maddening anxiety.

No way, that can’t be right. There’s no way something like that would happen.

The doctor looked at the monitor where both of their results were displayed side by side and continued speaking calmly.

“Mr. Do Hyeonjun’s imprinting reaction graph is soaring, while Mr. Kim Chayeon’s graph shows no change. It is a perfect case of one-sided imprinting.”

It was a calm sentence.

“If one-sided imprinting becomes prolonged, it can cause health problems. Imprinting is a state where the body has learned a stable response to a specific pheromone, so if that target disappears, it can cause a physical imbalance. Insomnia, loss of appetite, abnormal body temperature regulation, and in severe cases, a weakened immune system or abnormal reactions in the autonomic nervous system can also occur.”

A voice screaming ‘please stop talking’ rose to his throat, but the doctor did not stop his explanation.

“To put it simply, if the person you’ve imprinted on is not by your side, your body will find it increasingly difficult to endure. I’ll give you a prescription first, so submit it at the reception, and if it doesn’t get better after you’ve taken all the medication, please come back.”

The doctor’s voice echoed in his ears, feeling unreal. A shock greater than when they had spent the heat by ‘mistake’ struck his entire body. The fact that Kim Chayeon had experienced this whole process with him was unbearable.

After leaving the hospital, the two of them were lost in their own thoughts.

Imprinting. Me, on Kim Chayeon.

Is it a relief that it’s a one-sided imprinting? This is just one thing after another. A self-deprecating laugh escaped thinly through his teeth. He clenched his fists, filled with complicated feelings, and deliberately looked straight at Kim Chayeon. He had to look like it was no big deal, like he was fine.

“Kim Chayeon. This is not something you need to worry about. Just pretend you didn’t hear what was said today.”

“That was my plan. It’s your business, Do Hyeonjun. It has nothing to do with me.”

The tone was even colder than when he had told him to deal with his feelings himself.

“Since there’s nothing wrong with your leg, I’m leaving. I’ll let Jeong know.”

Kim Chayeon, who was walking toward the bus stop while tapping on his screen, probably contacting Seo Jeong, suddenly looked in his direction. He asked as if he had completely forgotten the shocking diagnosis he had just heard from the doctor, or as if it had nothing to do with him.

“So, is everything sorted out?”

Sorted out. He was talking about Do Hyeonjun’s feelings.

Instead of going to class, Do Hyeonjun went straight back to his studio apartment. He threw his bag down and opened his laptop. Without even having time to catch his breath, he crammed the two words into the search bar with trembling fingers. With a sliver of hope that there might be someone else who had experienced the same misfortune as him, he searched for a few more similar things, but the more he scrolled, the more dismal it became.

Question: Is it this hard when you imprint alone?

Original Post:

I think I’ve imprinted alone. The other person has no idea.

My condition is a mess, and my mood keeps sinking.

Will it get better over time?

Answers (27 total):

• jjd*: It won’t get better.
• ku*: One-sided imprinting doesn’t go away with time, it can actually get worse. If the other person isn’t around, your body and mind will be completely wrecked ㅜㅜ
• gpf*: If you really want to forget, you have to force yourself to cut it off, but honestly, it’s not easy haha
• p98*: Oh my… how did that happen;; Someone I know also had a one-sided imprinting and suffered a lot.. Try to break the imprinting somehow. Fighting!!

His hand was weak as he closed the laptop. He could not find a positive conclusion in any of the information.

“Hah.”

He let out a deep sigh and threw himself onto the bed. The fact that he had imprinted alone still did not feel real, and it felt as distant as if it were someone else’s problem. What was more vividly digging into his chest was Kim Chayeon’s cold voice he had heard at the hospital.

It’s your business, Do Hyeonjun. It has nothing to do with me.

Kim Chayeon, freed from the title of ‘friend,’ was like that. It had been so long ago that he had forgotten. Do Hyeonjun slowly raised his arm and placed it over his forehead. He did not want to see anything.

In the few days that passed after that day, Do Hyeonjun felt his body changing little by little. First, his whole body felt as heavy as a waterlogged sponge.

Could it be that the side effects of the one-sided imprinting that the doctor had warned about had already begun? No. It could just be that he was exhausted from being on edge. In truth, either way was bleak. Nevertheless, it was a relief that it was not very noticeable, as Seo Jeong had not said anything. Otherwise, he would have asked with concern by now.

“Hyeonjun. Did you finish the Media Age assignment? It hasn’t even been a month since the semester started, but is this the right number of assignments? Why do professors think students only take their classes?”

“I submitted it yesterday.”

“Wow. As expected from a top student. I’m going to submit it today too, so let’s call Chayeon over tonight and go to a PC cafe for the first time in a while.”

“…Is Kim Chayeon coming?”

“Of course he’ll come. We’re Chayeon’s only friends.”

He probably doesn’t think of me as a friend anymore. He swallowed the bitter truth that had risen to the tip of his tongue. Bringing it up would only make the situation more awkward.