PUCKD Ch 70

“Well, shall we eat now?”

“Yes!”

“Wait.”

Just as he was about to sit down at the low table, his mother called out to Junghyun and stopped him. Junghyun straightened the knee he had half-bent and looked back at his mother. And for a moment, he flinched, his body trembling.

His mother’s expression had changed. He instinctively realized that something was wrong, but he didn’t know what it was. Junghyun approached her with anxious eyes. His mother suddenly grabbed Junghyun’s hand with a sharp movement.

He tried to resist out of fear, but he couldn’t overcome an adult’s strength. Eventually, his wrist was yanked around, revealing his fingernails.

His mother checked her son’s fingernails without blinking an eye. There was a reddish bitten mark on the middle finger of his right hand. Junghyun instinctively drew his body back and shook his head.

“N-No…”

“I told you to fix your habit of biting your nails.”

Junghyun shook his head even harder.

He had fixed it. He definitely had. Hadn’t he put in tremendous effort not to bite them, because his father would scold him if he saw such nails when he came to visit later?

That’s strange. When did they become like that? Ah, did I absentmindedly bite them yesterday when I couldn’t solve a math problem? Since that wasn’t intentional, it meant the habit was fixed.

“No. I fixed the habit. This, no. I didn’t do it, but…”

His head was violently turned sideways. A stinging pain followed. His knees gave way and soon hit the floor with a thud.

Junghyun covered his throbbing cheek with his small, fern-like hands and slowly raised his head. Tears welling up hampered his vision. Soon, the heavy tears plopped onto the floor.

His mother, with a completely changed expression, yelled at Junghyun. Her pitch was so high that he couldn’t properly hear what she was saying. Her voice soon began to mix with sobs. His mother was crying. He felt sorry for her, as she kept saying it was all her fault.

No. It’s not your fault, Mom. I lied. I did wrong. I will do better. I will become a more proud son so that Dad won’t be embarrassed…

“Mr. Junghyun. The pheromones have all been administered.”

Junghyun was jolted awake by the dry voice. His pupils moved quickly to reconcile the gap between the dream and reality.

“I will remove the needle.”

“Ah, yes.”

Yes, he was at the Pheromone Center. To receive the Alpha pheromones that he got once a week.

His condition had been poor all along recently, and since he had gone to sleep after 4 a.m. yesterday after Shin Hojae left, he must have fallen asleep while receiving the pheromones.

“Please don’t rub it too much.”

Junghyun, who was unconsciously rubbing the spot where the injection had been withdrawn, stopped his hand at the sound. After discarding the alcohol swab and pulling down the rolled-up sleeve, a reddish raised spot on the back of his hand suddenly caught his eye.

Junghyun paused while buttoning his sleeve and gazed at the back of his hand. Because the outer skin had peeled off and new skin had grown back repeatedly, the back of his hand was rough, like calluses, unlike other places.

He knew it shouldn’t hurt now, after repeating it for so long, but it was because he recalled someone’s voice that had looked at it as if it were a fresh wound.

‘Don’t bite the back of your hand anymore. It hurts.’

“……”

Since Shin Hojae had said that, his subconscious must have brought up a childhood dream. Junghyun gently stroked the back of his hand, which contained his kindness, and got out of bed.

“Nurse. May I ask you a quick question?”

He looked for the young female nurse who injected him with pheromones every time. She blinked her expressionless eyes and questioned him only with her gaze. No matter how many times he saw her, she was a very blunt person. Though he didn’t dislike that about her.

“I always feel unwell after getting the pheromones, but it seems to have gotten worse lately.”

“And?”

He figured it was just his imagination that she was oddly more irritable today. Junghyun continued speaking, maintaining his smile.

“Could I know what Alpha pheromone I’m receiving? I’m wondering if it’s different from usual.”

“…Just a moment.”

She left to check. In the meantime, Junghyun put on the jacket hanging on the coat rack and checked the mirror. The tie, which he had loosely untied before getting the pheromones, caught his eye.

As he tightened the knot up to his neck while looking in the mirror, the usual feeling of being choked and stifled enveloped his body.

‘Untie your tie too. It’s suffocating.’

And naturally, one memory from yesterday followed like a tag. Junghyun sighed softly.

“Mr. Junghyun. About the pheromone you asked about.”

“Ah, yes.”

The nurse who had left returned in time. In her hand was an empty plastic bag. Checking the label, he saw a ‘+’ indicating dominance attached after the Alpha mark.

He suddenly remembered that Shin Hojae had collected pheromones at this center. And even the story that his mother had instructed that all those pheromones be used by Junghyun.

“I think the side effects are appearing more strongly because it is a dominant pheromone.”

“Ah…. Yes, that makes sense.”

Junghyun nodded meekly.

Since he always suffered from a light cold even with normal Alpha pheromones, it was understandable that the side effects would be stronger with a dominant pheromone.

Wait, then on the contrary, is there no possibility that this mild fever and cold symptoms are signs of his Omega heat?

If he has been infused with dominant pheromones, which he would normally never encounter, for several weeks, wouldn’t the possibility not be zero? The fact that he was curious about this showed that his lingering attachment to being an Alpha was not completely gone.

“Nurse, could I have my pheromone levels checked?”

The nurse stood still with an expressionless face and answered a little late.

“…Yes. You mean the Alpha pheromone level?”

“Yes.”

Junghyun nodded.

The test results showed that Junghyun’s Alpha pheromone level had actually dropped by one level. After confirming the results, he couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Right, if he could really manifest at the age of thirty by infusing pheromones, everyone in the world would be an Alpha. He was embarrassed that he had mistaken a prolonged cold for manifestation.

Junghyun thanked the nurse and left the center. It took a little longer because of the unscheduled level check.

Today was the day he was scheduled to go to an exhibition hall in Samseong-dong with his mother. It was an exhibition by a new artist his mother was interested in recently. Junghyun messaged his mother that he would be a little late.

After starting the engine, Junghyun looked at the back seat through the rearview mirror during the brief moment waiting for the engine to warm up. It was the place where he had been entangled with Shin Hojae just a few hours ago.

He felt inexplicably thirsty. Junghyun opened the console box and took out a Tylenol. Painkillers had become almost a regular medicine these days. He swallowed the white pill without water. He could distinctly feel the shape of the pill going down his esophagus. His throat hurt, and his eyes closed on their own.

‘What I just said was a lie. I have nothing going on with that announcer.’

‘…Can’t you not go?’

“……”

Junghyun slowly opened his eyes.

The kindness he had encountered, even when he tried to shake it off, showed no sign of easily disappearing.

A small vibration sounded. It was a message from his mother, telling him to come as quickly as possible. Junghyun manipulated the gear shift, which was stopped at P, and left the center’s parking lot.

Glancing at the navigation, it would take about 30 minutes to the exhibition hall in Samseong-dong. An exhibition hall, huh….

Just as he spent money on things like cars and clothes he didn’t use, his mother liked collecting art. This seemed to be hereditary. Or perhaps he had unconsciously learned it by observing his mother.

His mother would easily become engulfed in depression whenever his father was busy or away on long business trips abroad. Junghyun thought that someone who had devoted their entire life to someone would become like a lost child when that person disappeared from their side.

During those times, his mother needed Junghyun. As a substitute for his father. Things like shopping, visiting exhibitions, or dining were not difficult at all, but the sensitive area he always had to be careful about was checking on his mother’s mood.

He paid careful attention to every small action and word so that his mother wouldn’t feel alone, and would feel that she always had a strong ally on her side.

Because he wanted his mother to return to that mansion with a smile on her face, at least after spending the day with him.

However, this time there was a slight difference. His mother’s voice on the phone was different from usual. It wasn’t a subdued voice but a slightly excited tone.

Well, if his mother was in a good mood, that would be a welcoming thing in itself.

Junghyun thought lightly and stepped on the accelerator.

The exhibition hall in Samseong-dong was very large and neat, perhaps newly opened. Flowerpots or bouquets celebrating the opening were particularly noticeable in the lobby where he left the car for valet parking and entered.

Perhaps because it was close to Christmas, there was also a human-sized Christmas tree installed in the lobby.

Speaking of which, there were a lot of Christmas objects at the warehouse-style mart yesterday too. Just as yesterday came to mind again and Junghyun’s face softened slightly.

“Junghyun.”

When he raised his head, his mother, dressed in a muted two-piece suit, caught his eye. As he had gathered from the phone call, her face was bright. Junghyun stepped forward with a smile on his face.

“Mom told you on the phone, right? The artist Kyeong Seunghee who is having a solo exhibition today.”

Then, the face of the man standing behind his mother came into view.

The man wearing a V-neck knit was seen smiling at Junghyun. With light brown hair covering his nape, he was a man who looked strikingly handsome, like an actor or a model.