TBM Vol 5 Part 4

He had meant to give a somewhat pointed response due to the lingering resentment of being refused at the door that day, but Seung-yeon gave a shockingly forward answer. While Il-seo pretended not to hear and rummaged through a few more albums, a spicy smell spread from beyond the home bar.

Absorbed in the albums, he had completely forgotten that Seung-yeon had bought ramyun ingredients. He had really intended to cook it himself. He quickly ran to the kitchen, but Seung-yeon was already stirring the noodles with chopsticks.

As Il-seo reached out his hand and approached the pot, Seung-yeon made a hissing sound with his mouth as he took out the spoon.

“It’s hot. Stay back.”

“That’s not what I…”

Lee Il-seo, who was trying to emphasize that he had wanted to cook himself, had saliva pooling clearly on his tongue and couldn’t properly spit out those words. Sa Seung-yeon, who had turned off the heat and picked up the pot, gestured toward the table with his chin and said.

“Stop standing around and go sit down.”

Lee Il-seo eventually backed away obediently, as his attempts to help by reaching out and coming closer only seemed to get in the way. Watching Lee Il-seo quietly pull out a chair and sit down without being able to properly respond, Sa Seung-yeon silently lifted the corners of his mouth.

The distinct salty and spicy smell of ramen filled the dining room. Lee Il-seo, licking his lips, looked around the table. There was only one set of chopsticks and a glass of water. Watching Sa Seung-yeon’s back as he put down the pot and casually walked to the living room without sitting down, Lee Il-seo raised his eyebrows.

“Aren’t you eating, sunbae?”

“Eat comfortably.”

It was obvious that Sa Seung-yeon was leaving to avoid making Lee Il-seo uncomfortable while eating. Yet as Sa Seung-yeon walked to the living room nonchalantly, Lee Il-seo got down from his chair and quickly widened his stride.

“L-let’s eat together.”

When those pale, slender fingers firmly gripped his clothing, an awkward smile spread across Sa Seung-yeon’s face that had been frozen like a statue. As if he had heard something said out of mere politeness, Sa Seung-yeon chuckled and repeated the same words as before.

“It’s fine, eat by yourself. It’ll be bad if you get indigestion.”

Lee Il-seo, paying no mind, pulled on the clothing he was holding. Though he was concerned seeing the knit material stretch out, he pulled a little harder.

“Eat with me.”

Unable to overcome the gentle stubbornness, Sa Seung-yeon finally sat down across from him. But Sa Seung-yeon only picked at a few rice cakes. He just held his chopsticks and watched Lee Il-seo eat. Even though it was obviously uncomfortable to have someone watching you eat, Lee Il-seo was too focused on eating to notice.

It had been a really long time since food tasted this delicious and went down so smoothly for Lee Il-seo. At his grandmother’s funeral, even with Sa Seung-yeon beside him, he had been so mentally exhausted that he didn’t even have the energy to swallow porridge. But now, perhaps because he had gotten a good sleep, the food went down too well.

Looking at the ramen bowl that had emptied so quickly despite asking Sa Seung-yeon to eat together, Lee Il-seo finally realized that his stomach was full.

“Wow… I’m stuffed.”

Lee Il-seo rubbed his round belly and sank back into the chair, unsure how long it had been since he’d felt this satisfied. Sa Seung-yeon grinned.

“I should have made you ramyun instead of taking you to that fancy Korean restaurant.”

Even though he had only watched Lee Il-seo eat well, a sense of achievement bloomed as if he had conquered the world.

“For dessert.”

“You have more?”

Lee Il-seo, who hadn’t expected Sa Seung-yeon to prepare dessert after he said he was full, turned his head with round eyes. Seeing Lee Il-seo’s lips reddened from the spicy ramen, Sa Seung-yeon finally burst into laughter.

Empty ice cream containers, tangerine peels, and torn snack bags were messily placed on the coffee table. The orange juice was quickly refilled whenever the cup emptied. Feeling his appetite return without the uncomfortable bloating for the first time in a long while, Lee Il-seo greedily consumed everything he wanted to eat.

Seung-yeon, who took a sip of coffee, pointed at the screen.

“You make a mistake in the lyrics here.”

On the screen, Lee Il-seo was holding a guitar. Of course, this was a video Lee Il-seo had no memory of.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s the first verse, you dummy.”

“Ah… you’re right.”

Sa Seung-yeon chuckled as if he had solved the most annoying spot the difference puzzle. After watching Lee Il-seo’s videos together (they couldn’t finish them all because Lee Il-seo was embarrassed), they listened to music together on a streaming site.

All the songs Lee Il-seo suggested were to Sa Seung-yeon’s taste from the intro. Amazingly, some were already in Sa Seung-yeon’s playlist, and some were uncommon songs, just like Tangerine’s treasured playlist from the past.

Sa Seung-yeon, who looked entranced every time music played, had to suppress the urge to ask Lee Il-seo to sing just once. He should be grateful enough for this one day that Sa Seung-yeon had allowed him.

At some point, the two of them had been listening to songs for a long time without touching the snacks. Before they knew it, Lee Il-seo was in a half-lying position with his head resting on Sa Seung-yeon’s shoulder, and Sa Seung-yeon was also leaning obliquely against the sofa.

“I often listened to this song at dawn.”

This time it was Sa Seung-yeon’s recommendation. Lee Il-seo felt the same feelings as Sa Seung-yeon with every song that played. The same taste that was drawn from the intro. Lee Il-seo, who was constantly smiling and wrinkling his nose, bit his lip tightly because he felt strangely like his eyes were burning.

He felt satisfied after a long time. Sa Seung-yeon’s pheromones were subtly escaping from beside him, and pleasant songs tickled his ears through expensive speakers. His whole body felt softly relaxed.

Leaning on Sa Seung-yeon’s shoulder, he slowly closed and opened his eyes repeatedly. Perhaps because of the pheromones, Lee Il-seo, caught in a pleasant drowsiness, blankly stared at Sa Seung-yeon’s fingers tapping to the beat of the song before abruptly speaking.

“It’s so amazing… that you’re 4566, sunbae.”

“…”

“It’s still hard to fully believe.”

His voice was hazy, as if he didn’t even know what he was saying. Sa Seung-yeon slowly turned his head.

“I’ve been lonely all this time liking you.”

“…”

“The truth is, you were waiting for me too, weren’t you…?”

It feels like being rewarded. Lee Il-seo, who had muttered softly, closed his heavy eyelids and fell asleep right away. Listening to the regular breathing sounds that quickly followed, Sa Seung-yeon also closed his eyes slowly with a faint smile. The sweet scent that melted his heart and the song that had been deafening his ears gradually became quieter.

***

In the early dawn, Sa Seung-yeon opened his eyes to an inexplicable pressure. Looking down obliquely, Sa Seung-yeon made an expression as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Lee Il-seo and he were sleeping together on the sofa.

What was even harder to believe was that Lee Il-seo had his forehead firmly buried in Sa Seung-yeon’s chest, with both arms around his waist and one leg over his thigh. Like a young animal not wanting to leave its embrace, he was pressing every part of his body against Sa Seung-yeon, making his heart pound as if there were hearts in every place Lee Il-seo touched.

This was Lee Il-seo, whom he had only pushed away and ignored. There had been moments when Lee Il-seo’s gaze, breathing, body, and heart had all rejected him, but now, dominated by his unconscious, he was completely on Sa Seung-yeon’s side.

Looking at the sleeping face with an oblique gaze, Sa Seung-yeon entangled his fingers in Lee Il-seo’s hair and released a slightly stronger calm pheromone.

Though the warmed up young man was breathing peacefully and regularly with purring sounds, Sa Seung-yeon couldn’t get a wink of sleep afterward.

***

Lee Il-seo, who had been rubbing his forehead against the soft touch, slowly opened his eyes. What filled his vision was pure white bedding. Whether it was the pillow Sa Seung-yeon had been using, the pillow was filled with Sa Seung-yeon’s scent.

Blinking his eyes and trying to recall yesterday’s memories, Lee Il-seo sat up pushing the sheets with a puzzled expression. Clearly, his last memory was dozing off briefly while listening to music with Sa Seung-yeon because he felt so drowsy.

“Wow, I slept deeply again.”

The only thing that had changed was feeling Sa Seung-yeon’s pheromones, yet his quality of life could be so different. Sleeping soundly without waking up from stomach pain, and when his appetite returned on schedule, he felt strange as the fact that he had presented as an Omega became tangible.

It was a mixed feeling, both fascinating and bitter. He didn’t want to burden Sa Seung-yeon, which is why he had constantly denied that the child he was carrying was Sa Seung-yeon’s. He knew that depending on Sa Seung-yeon like this wasn’t helping his resolve at all, yet his body desperately craved Sa Seung-yeon’s pheromones.

Still, what’s wrong is wrong. The promised day had passed, so he needed to return home. Lee Il-seo got down from the bed unsteadily. As he reached for his mobile phone, he noticed a yellow Post-it note attached to it on the console.

[Off to my schedule. I left fresh orange juice in the fridge, drink it before you go.]

The message, written in ink pen, seemed as if it had read his mind. Usually, Sa Seung-yeon didn’t write a single word on scripts. Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar handwriting, Lee Il-seo nodded slowly. So this is what his handwriting looks like when writing sentences. Even the casually scribbled writing was elegant, so Lee Il-seo stared at the note for a long time, and then carefully removed it without crumpling it and kept it.

Fresh fruit juice made his mouth water. Perhaps because he had plenty of Sa Seung-yeon’s pheromones overnight, his appetite quickly returned. It seemed like he could just have a glass and go straight home. Walking to the refrigerator, Lee Il-seo reached out instinctively, then slowly stopped his movement.

[There’s a picture book on the dining table. Read it while drinking.]

Thinking that it was strange to prepare such things as if he were a child, Lee Il-seo burst into laughter, removed the Post-it, opened the refrigerator, and took out the orange juice. A straw was already inserted, and as he gulped it down and went to the dining table, there really was a picture book placed there.

It was a short story, but the illustrations were warm and the content was touching. There were drawings that stretched across pages and ones that you had to tilt your head to see properly, making it an enjoyable read as he drank his orange juice. On the very last page of the picture book, there was another yellow Post-it note.

[You lost track of time because it was fun, right? There’s something more interesting in the study.]

Tap. Il-seo peeled off the sticky note and slowly walked to the study. Curiosity now dwelled in Lee Il-seo’s eyes as he opened the study door. On the neatly organized desk in the study, a book with a Post-it note attached was already taken out.

[The book I enjoyed reading the most this month. Just read this one last thing before you go.]

It was quite a thick novel. It would take at least two hours to read it all, even reading quickly. Lee Il-seo was dumbfounded by Seung-yeon’s antics, which he had freely indulged in while Il-seo was asleep, but he also found it a little cute. Just in case, he opened the book to the very last page first.

[Did you finish reading? Looking at the back first is cheating. If you’ve finished, go to the dressing room.]

Lee Il-seo burst into laughter. Laughing with a deflating sound, Lee Il-seo walked toward the dressing room with the novel in his hand. Now Lee Il-seo began to look for the yellow Post-it notes first. It was attached to the door handle of the closet in the dressing room.

[Coat pocket]

When he opened the closet door, there were many coats. With a faint question in mind, Lee Il-seo put his hand in the pockets one by one, and after a few attempts, he found a paper that crinkled under his fingertips in the pocket of a black cashmere long coat.

[I’ve soaked this coat with lots of pheromones. If you wear it, you’ll get hungry and feel better. I’ve put breakfast in the oven. You just need to heat it up, so please, just eat that and go.]

Lee Il-seo took out Sa Seung-yeon’s coat. Perhaps because of the material, the long but light coat was indeed thoroughly soaked with Sa Seung-yeon’s scent and thick pheromones. Burying his nose in the collar, Il-seo walked back to the kitchen with the coat draped over his arm.

In the oven, another note awaited him.

[1 minute 40 seconds. If the seaweed soup is bland, sprinkle salt. Salt is on the second shelf of the cupboard.]

In the cupboard.

[There’s ice cream in the fridge and tangerines on the terrace. You can eat it all, so how about a movie? Just watch that before you go.]

In the DVD cabinet.

Lee Il-seo went back and forth across the spacious house, removing Sa Seung-yeon’s notes one by one. Il-seo, who had reached the final destination, the sofa, put down the sticky notes and started reading the book that Seung-yeon had told him to read first. After finishing that book, he heated and ate the porridge and seaweed soup that were in the oven. Sa Seung-yeon’s notes, like signposts, gave Lee Il-seo a subtle reassurance.

“…”

He pressed the play button on the DVD player to start the movie. It was Sa Seung-yeon’s work that Lee Il-seo had said he liked the most. Lee Il-seo laughed. The method of trying to hold a person with his face was so simple even in this situation, and the laughter burst out because he found it absurd that he was willingly stepping into the trap even while knowing it was one.

His mouth hurt from laughing after a long time. Lee Il-seo lowered his head while maintaining his smile. Stroking his flat lower abdomen, the quiet area below his navel, he asked in a small voice.

“You’re being well-behaved.”

The one who would also be of Sa Seung-yeon’s bloodline had not shown its presence even once since coming to this house. It was obediently holding its breath, as if it, too, was exhausted from the stability it was experiencing for the first time and had fallen asleep like him.

It was a strange feeling. He felt both resentment and pity, annoyance and sympathy. Lifting his head with complicated eyes, Lee Il-seo looked at the TV again. Although it was a movie he had watched so many times that he could recite all the lines, he didn’t miss a single scene as if watching it for the first time.

The movie reached its climax. It was a part with extreme action sequences, so Lee Il-seo pulled Sa Seung-yeon’s coat over his head and curled his knees into a ball. Even though he knew what was coming next, the feeling of his heart tightening couldn’t be helped.

At that moment, he sensed someone’s presence near the sofa. As he pulled down the coat and looked up, Sa Seung-yeon, with disheveled hair, was breathing slightly heavily. Having turned up the movie’s volume, Lee Il-seo hadn’t heard the front door at all and awkwardly stood up from his seat.

“You’re back?”

He couldn’t believe it was already this late. Only then did he notice the mess in the house. On the coffee table that Sa Seung-yeon had cleaned in the morning, there were now bowls of porridge and seaweed soup, and next to them were the novel and the picture book. Lee Il-seo’s eyebrows drooped with embarrassment.

“Uh… I was really going to clean up in just a little bit. I’m sorry.”

After standing silently for a while, Sa Seung-yeon picked up the coat that had fallen while Lee Il-seo was moving. As he draped it back over Lee Il-seo’s shoulders, he was smiling, but through his deeper and darker than usual eyes, his complex feelings flowed in like currents.

“You really didn’t leave.”

Looking at Lee Il-seo standing still, Sa Seung-yeon spoke with difficulty.

“Can you not go?”

Lee Il-seo’s fingertips twitched at Sa Seung-yeon’s voice, which he was hearing for the first time like this. At the end of his voice, asking tentatively without confidence, there was a faint but desperate tone. Sa Seung-yeon shrugged once and continued carefully.

“Stay here and eat some meals and get some sleep like today. If you’re uncomfortable seeing me, I won’t bother you.”

“…”

“I’d like you to stay here for a while.”

Though he couldn’t readily hold him back, Sa Seung-yeon’s gaze as he looked at Lee Il-seo was desperate. After hesitating for a long time without giving an answer, Lee Il-seo finally nodded slightly.

“Okay. It’s a bit difficult for me without the pheromones too…”

“Really?”

Sa Seung-yeon’s face lit up as he took a step forward, but a firmer tone halted him.

“But. Only until I find a hospital that will perform the surgery without a proxy… Only until then.”

“…”

“And I will absolutely never use you as the Alpha for the surgery.”

Lee Il-seo, with the large coat draped over his shoulders, looked up at Sa Seung-yeon. With a small sigh, Sa Seung-yeon loosely pulled up the corners of his mouth and reached out to lightly stroke the top of Lee Il-seo’s head.

“Alright.”

Watching Sa Seung-yeon smile with crinkled eyes, seemingly satisfied even with the time-limited period he was given, Lee Il-seo bit his lip.

The first person he had liked.

The one who had given him the greatest hurt.

The gentle one who had been his strength.

All three people had become mixed up in the existence called Sa Seung-yeon. Because of the irony of not being able to like Sa Seung-yeon comfortably, nor push him away completely, he was so confused, yet Sa Seung-yeon, who claimed to love him, appeared not to waver even in the midst of that turmoil.

***

After parking, Hwan turned to look at Sa Seung-yeon and bowed slightly.

“Sir, please go in.”

“Yes.”

Hwan’s eyebrows and the corners of his mouth rose simultaneously. Sa Seung-yeon’s mood, which had been inexplicably down and sensitive lately, was getting back to normal these days. Of course, compared to before, he was still taciturn, and there was a coolness in his eyes, but it was fortunate that he at least responded to greetings and noticeably reduced his swearing when alone.

Passing through the parking lot and entrance, Sa Seung-yeon first checked the sneakers neatly placed on the floor. The house he had entered around one in the morning was dark and quiet like the backstage after the lights had been lowered. Sa Seung-yeon took off his shoes next to the small sneakers and slipped his feet into slippers.

Each time he turned his neck to the side, there was a cracking sound from his bones. The reason he was returning home so late was that both the brand invitation event and the advertisement shooting schedule had ended later than planned. With fatigue in his eyes, Sa Seung-yeon crossed the dimly lit hallway.

A rumpled blanket, a glass on the coffee table, and an album placed in a different position.

His black eyes followed the traces Lee Il-seo had left in the empty house one by one. It had become an unconscious habit since Lee Il-seo started staying at the house. His somewhat wide stride soon headed toward the dining room.

“…”

Sa Seung-yeon’s brows furrowed slightly at the completely dry faucet, and when he flung open the refrigerator door, a strange coolness settled over his face, which looked as if it had been sculpted. A delicious-looking meal was left untouched, wrapped in plastic, inside the refrigerator. Sa Seung-yeon stared at the food in his slightly tilted posture before closing the refrigerator door.

Recently, he had hired one more housekeeper to manage household chores. She was a cook responsible for Korean food that was easy to digest and nutritionally balanced, who came to the house early every morning to prepare all three meals before leaving. Naturally, the one who ate was Lee Il-seo, but for some reason today, the food appeared untouched, instantly making Sa Seung-yeon’s expression dry.

Sometimes there would be leftovers, but this was the first time the food hadn’t been touched at all. His steps toward the bedroom gradually quickened.

According to Lee Il-seo’s manager, Lee Il-seo had a photo shoot scheduled today. (Choi Kyung-hyun, who had begun to erase his hostility after the funeral, had decided to form an implicit alliance with Sa Seung-yeon regarding Lee Il-seo’s condition.) Most of the schedules that had been flooding in were canceled after the pregnancy scandal, and Lee Il-seo had also been canceling or rejecting schedules as much as possible. However, today’s shoot was for a magazine cover that was proceeding in the form of talent donation, and since all publishing proceeds were to be donated, he couldn’t cancel it and had to attend the scheduled shoot after a long time.

‘Did he fall asleep without eating because he was tired?’

However, since there was no special message from Choi Kyung-hyun about Lee Il-seo’s condition, the reason for skipping the meal became even more of a mystery.

Entering the bedroom silently, he saw a round mound on the bed. Confirming that Lee Il-seo was asleep with the blanket covering him to the top of his head, Sa Seung-yeon quietly finished showering and changed clothes so as not to wake him.

Even after getting out of the shower and sitting on the bed, that round mound didn’t move at all, which was a bit different from usual when Lee Il-seo would at least acknowledge him when he returned home.

Why didn’t he eat dinner? How was the schedule after so long? Wasn’t it suffocating to sleep like that? There was much he wanted to ask, but it was too late to wake up someone who had finally fallen into a deep sleep without him.

Looking at the blanket with a troubled expression, Sa Seung-yeon carefully reached out and gently pulled the blanket down a bit. No matter what, sleeping curled up without a pillow and without any space to breathe was concerning. He intended to just gently correct the uncomfortable position without waking him.

But Sa Seung-yeon’s eyes sharpened as he gripped the blanket. That was because a stifling heat was trapped around Lee Il-seo, who was curled up in a ball. Frowning, Sa Seung-yeon pulled the blanket down further to reveal Lee Il-seo’s face. The area around his pale face was completely soaked with sweat.

“Lee Il-seo?”

“…”

“Lee Il-seo.”

When he didn’t wake up despite being shaken, Sa Seung-yeon tried to raise his body by putting his hand under Lee Il-seo’s shoulder. But his entire body was seriously hot to the touch, and Lee Il-seo’s body only slumped heavily.

“What’s wrong? Hey, Il-seo!”

Thump, thump, thump— his heart beat rapidly. Though he tapped Lee Il-seo’s cheek, his tightly closed eyelids would not open.

***

Sa Seung-yeon sat on a stool near the bed, interlacing his fingers and bringing them to his lips. Yet an anxious sigh that couldn’t be stopped eventually escaped through his teeth. Dr. Lee Ju-seung, who had adjusted the IV drip rate, pulled the blanket up to Lee Il-seo’s chest and said to Sa Seung-yeon.

“Shall we talk outside?”

Sa Seung-yeon stood up. It was past 3 a.m. The bloodshot whites of his eyes and his slow, dragging slippers made him look somewhat exhausted.

The two men entered the study and sat facing each other on the sofa.

“It’s a temporary shock phenomenon. The quick test shows that his pheromone levels are very weak. In such cases, shock symptoms appear. Especially since he’s pregnant and has a recessive trait, the symptoms would have been more severe.”

Director Lee continued his explanation, looking at Sa Seung-yeon, who nodded with a complicated expression.

“You said he had a schedule after a long time, right? It’s probably because the pheromones he had been stably receiving while living with you were suddenly cut off, and his body couldn’t adapt to it suddenly. He’s received IV fluids, and since you’ll be by his side, he’ll probably stabilize soon.”

“Yes. Thank you for coming on such an urgent call.”

Sa Seung-yeon composed his expression. When he saw Lee Il-seo collapse, he had immediately wanted to go to the nearest emergency room, but soon realized that would make things more difficult for Lee Il-seo. Instead, he had contacted Director Lee Ju-seung, who fortunately came to the house right away despite the late hour.

After finishing his explanation, Lee Ju-seung, instead of leaving, took out a tablet PC from his bag with a rather serious face.

“The reason I wanted to talk is about what you asked me last time.”

Sa Seung-yeon’s eyebrows rose. Recently, Sa Seung-yeon had contacted Lee Ju-seung, the director of the Trait General Hospital, to inquire about the possibility of abortion surgery for a newly transitioned Omega. He had also asked if there were hospitals that could perform the surgery without an Alpha, as Lee Il-seo wanted.

With a troubled expression, the doctor adjusted his glasses once and began his explanation with a short sigh.

“Since it was your request, I looked into all possible methods. But to be frank, abortion without an Alpha? It’s impossible.”

Though expected, it was not good news for Lee Il-seo. Sa Seung-yeon quietly clenched his teeth. The muscles under his jaw tightened.

“If Lee Il-seo were a dominant Omega, or if enough time had passed since his presentation for his organs or pheromones to stabilize, it would be illegal, but we could somehow arrange the surgery through our hospital’s trait obstetrics department. The problem is that all of Lee Il-seo’s conditions are extreme.”

Director Lee handed the tablet PC to Sa Seung-yeon. It contained files summarizing mortality rates and side effects for those who underwent surgery immediately after Omega manifestation and pregnancy. As he read through the text, Sa Seung-yeon’s expression gradually darkened.

“It’s a surgery with almost no clinical experience, and the majority of cases have poor prognoses. It’s already rare for a newly presented recessive Omega to become pregnant, and performing surgery on undeveloped organs carries too much risk.”

And with the suffocating media attention surrounding Lee Il-seo, it was no wonder that no doctor would dare attempt a procedure that was both dangerous and illegal.

“And about the artificial pheromone injections that Lee Il-seo received in early pregnancy. Actually, these aren’t good medications and likely had a major impact on damaging Lee Il-seo’s pheromone system. In other words, all circumstances point to the failure of Lee Il-seo’s surgery.”

“So what should we do? Lee Il-seo doesn’t seem to want to give birth, nor does he want to use an Alpha proxy.”

“The chances of a stillbirth are already above ninety percent. But the problem is that there’s also a high chance it won’t end with just a stillbirth. In case of stillbirth, shock will come like today, and honestly, it’s difficult to predict whether Lee Il-seo can endure surgery without an Alpha. Now it’s not about the method, but about time.”

Though he knew Lee Il-seo was particularly good at enduring things silently, he hadn’t realized it was this severe. The color drained from Sa Seung-yeon’s face at the body condition that was more serious than expected. Lee Ju-seung spoke in a firm voice tinged with desperation.

“As a doctor, what I can tell you is that you need to persuade Lee Il-seo quickly in a direction that minimizes damage to his body.”

“…”

“The fact that he went into shock tonight, even while living near a super-dominant Alpha, means his internal pheromones are very unstable. You can’t delay any longer. If you can just find a proxy, I’ll take charge of the surgery in collaboration with obstetrics. Please persuade him to undergo surgery as soon as possible.”

At the voice that was indirectly saying there was no alternative, Sa Seung-yeon could only nod his head. After he left, Sa Seung-yeon slowly walked to the bedroom. Checking the nearly depleted IV, Sa Seung-yeon sat on the stool and looked at Lee Il-seo with complex eyes.

His face, deeply asleep without tension, looked particularly young, or rather, he finally looked his age. How much had that tough guy endured alone? His small palms were full of red fingernail marks. Lee Il-seo twitched his eyelids and regained consciousness an hour after finishing the IV drip.

Unable to fully open his eyes, Lee Il-seo surveyed his surroundings with a hazy gaze before finding Sa Seung-yeon and staring at him for a long time. His expression was like walking the boundary between being briefly awake, dreaming, or reality. Sa Seung-yeon touched his round forehead, wet with sweat. A warm, low-grade fever still remained.

“You’re… back?”

Perhaps mistaking that he had just finished his schedule, he stuttered a greeting, not realizing dawn was about to break. Sa Seung-yeon turned off the lights and lay down beside Lee Il-seo, covering Lee Il-seo’s anxiously trembling eyelids with his warm, large hand. A quiet, small voice reached his ears along with a shushing breath, as if soothing a child.

“Yes. Go back to sleep.”

Calm pheromones slowly enveloped him from head to toe. Lee Il-seo, not fully awake, blinked drowsily and burrowed deep into Sa Seung-yeon’s chest. His body, unable to forget the fear of losing consciousness alone, instinctively sought out the source of pheromones.

Sa Seung-yeon, who had stiffened for a moment, soon embraced the frail body tightly in his arms. Feeling security in the weight firmly wrapping around his body, Lee Il-seo quickly forgot his faint anxiety and peacefully let go of consciousness.