ETP Ch 76

Sungyeon chugged two glasses of sujeonggwa in a row. It was to gulp them down before they overflowed.

“Aren’t you full yet?”

“What? Oh no, I am full.”

“Then why are you drinking so hastily? You’ll get an upset stomach.”

Oh my god.

Is this person in front of me really Hwang Yoohyun? Why is he saying such things with that kind of face?

The more affectionate Yoohyun was, the more he looked at him with tender eyes, the more Sungyeon felt a sense of frustration welling up inside.

“Is the sujeonggwa good? Should I ask them to pack some for you?”

“I’m fine!”

Sungyeon waved his hands dismissively. But Yoohyun looked ready to call an employee over at any moment. Sungyeon managed to stop him by grabbing his wrist and bit his lip hard.

He felt like something really bad would happen if he stayed like this. Even now, heat was rising from the palm of his hand that had unconsciously grabbed Yoohyun’s wrist.

“Sunbae-nim.”

“Yeah.”

Meanwhile, Yoohyun, unaware of Bokseung’s feelings, briefly glanced down at his own wrist, which was held by Bokseung’s hand. Just for a moment, lest Bokseung notice and let go if he looked for too long.

Heat was blooming from his right wrist, which Bokseung was holding. It felt as if all his body heat had rushed to that one spot, even though it was a part of the body that was not typically easy to feel warmth from.

That was why.

Why he couldn’t properly understand what Bokseung was saying.

“……ing.”

“What?”

“I will be going back home now.”

Having said the words himself, Sungyeon swallowed nervously. He was afraid, knowing that leaving like this could completely ruin his relationship with him.

He couldn’t even meet Yoohyun’s eyes and lowered his head. Then, belatedly discovering his hand holding Yoohyun’s wrist, he was startled and let go. A chill quickly seeped into his once-warm hand.

“Why.”

Yoohyun asked for the reason with a placid expression.

Sungyeon, still with his head hung low, began to mumble. He disjointedly listed the reasons he had been thinking about throughout the meal.

“I thought I would be okay, but I think living with you, Sunbae-nim, is too much of a burden. And since there have been no threatening texts or calls so far, I don’t think I need to worry too much about Kim Taeon either…”

‘And, and…’

Sungyeon just spat out whatever words came to his mind. Eventually, he was making all sorts of excuses. He was even spilling words he wouldn’t have said if he were even slightly in his right mind.

“So I think it would be better for your life if I wasn’t there.”

Sungyeon’s mouth finally stopped only when he could no longer squeeze out any more words. However, even after finishing his long speech, Sungyeon couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.

“Kim Bokseung.”

Yoohyun, who had been listening to Bokseung’s long-winded excuses without much of a reply, opened his mouth.

“Sorry.”

“……?”

At his unexpected words, Bokseung’s head finally lifted.

His eyes, as round as his face, were wide with surprise, and his cheeks, which still had some baby fat, were flushed pink.

Yoohyun looked at the peach-colored boy and gulped. The more he listened to Bokseung, the more his throat felt parched.

The boy was rambling on and on about the reasons why he couldn’t live with Yoohyun, but if you listened closely to his words, you could tell they implied, ‘I’m being swayed by you this much, so I’m going to run away.’

However, Yoohyun planned to pretend he knew nothing and give the boy some breathing room.

Besides, there was something he had heard at the hospital he visited that morning.

Yoohyun recalled his trip to the clinic as he looked at Bokseung, who still wore a face that didn’t understand why he was being apologized to.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

In the morning, after dropping Bokseung off at school, Yoohyun headed to the ‘Hoseon Trait Clinic Main Branch’.

Since he had given prior notice, Yoohyun went up to the top floor without any particular procedures and was able to meet his primary physician right away. The space was closer to a hotel suite than a doctor’s office.

“Welcome. It’s been a while.”

“Yes, hello.”

Yoohyun also gave a slight nod to the physician who greeted him with a gentle smile.

“Looking at your records from a few months ago, it says there were instances of you reacting to pheromones. Are you here for the same reason today?”

His prediction that the consultation records from the branch clinic would be shared was correct. Yoohyun didn’t even bat an eyelash at his records being accessed without his consent.

Yoohyun had grown up with virtually no such thing as a perfect secret. Especially when it came to his health or pheromones, everything was open to related personnel, including his primary physician.

“There’s that, and something else.”

“Yes, please speak comfortably.”

“Last time, I had a consultation because I was reacting particularly sensitively to one pheromone.”

Yoohyun recalled the hypothesis he had heard from the doctor at the time.

“I heard that among Alphas and Omegas, there are some who have particularly compatible pheromones. I didn’t get to hear about it properly before.”

He had completely erased the fact that he had blatantly ignored the doctor’s words back then.

As Yoohyun brought up the topic, the doctor seemed to ponder for a moment before displaying several papers on the monitor. They were a jumble of all sorts of graphs and numbers.

“Typically, the relationship between pheromones and hormones often lacks a scientific basis. The hypothesis you heard last time, and what you just mentioned, Mr. Yoohyun, are all things that lack such evidence. However, evidence has slowly been emerging in various recent papers.”

Yoohyun’s eyes, which had been listening intently to the doctor, sparkled with interest.

What he had dismissed as nonsense was actually based on some evidence? If so, that meant he and Kim Bokseung were highly compatible.

It was somewhat natural for Bokseung, who was close to being a recessive, to be affected by his pheromones. But the fact that he himself was being affected by Bokseung’s pheromones was something that overturned all existing hypotheses about dominant and recessive traits.

“Have there really been cases like this?”

“Yes. It was difficult to conduct proper research because in the past, dominants mostly met dominants, and recessives mostly met recessives, but these days, so many different types of relationships have become common.”

The physician’s explanation, which started that way, continued in more detail.

Yoohyun, who was listening to every word the physician said, realized that his fingertips were starting to tremble with excitement.

It was possible that Kim Bokseung was the one and only person for Yoohyun. And if that were true, it meant Bokseung was also reacting sensitively to his pheromones. He just hadn’t realized it yet.

A deep smile spread across Yoohyun’s face from the satisfaction welling up from deep within his chest.

“Um, but there’s something.”

The doctor continued, looking at Yoohyun’s smug expression.

“Since high compatibility means you can influence each other that much… You said that person is close to being a recessive, right?”

“Yes. Ah… so…”

Hearing the doctor’s words, Yoohyun remembered Bokseung suddenly going into a heat cycle not long after getting involved with him. He also remembered how Bokseung had adamantly insisted that his cycle was still far off.

If that was the case, it meant he was the cause of that heat cycle.

It was a hypothesis he had dismissed as lacking credibility, but upon careful consideration, it pointed to his and the boy’s compatibility in so many ways.

“Even so, it means that you, Mr. Yoohyun, can also be sufficiently influenced by the other person. Even by recessive pheromones that would normally have no effect on your dominant trait.”

The physician briefly glanced at Yoohyun’s expression before finishing what he wanted to say.

“So, how about getting a pheromone wavelength test before you go? According to your schedule, you should still be in your stable period, but you never know.”

Yoohyun readily nodded at his suggestion. Since Bokseung was living with him now, it was better to prevent any potential issues beforehand.

Not long after Yoohyun’s consent was given, all the necessary equipment was set up in the examination room.

The test results came out quickly, and Yoohyun soon continued his consultation with the physician.

“As expected, your pheromone wavelengths are more unstable than usual. Your rut will probably come quite a bit earlier than scheduled. As early as next week or the week after.”

“Is that so. Then I’d like to get a prescription for rut suppressants while I’m here.”

“Mr. Yoohyun.”

At Yoohyun’s words, the physician voiced his opinion on the matter that concerned him most.

“You’ve never once gone through a rut naturally until now. This time, if possible…”

“We’re not in that kind of relationship yet. So please prescribe the suppressants.”

“If you keep suppressing it like that, the medication will become ineffective.”

“Then I’ll ask for the appropriate treatment for the situation at that time. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

His voice was even, but the content it carried was endlessly heavy. The physician couldn’t say anything more and simply nodded.

A short while later, rut suppressants were in Yoohyun’s hand.

“Well then, I’ll see you at your next check-up.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“You must contact me immediately if there are any unusual symptoms.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yoohyun left the examination room, leaving behind the physician who was reminding him several times.

His steps as he headed back to the school were lighter than ever before.