MM 130

“…Ugh!”

The pain was incomparable to when the syringe had pierced his neck earlier. The sharp point that tore through his thigh muscle and burrowed inside consumed his entire body and mind, momentarily subduing the feverish heat that had been writhing within him.

“You… you’re insane…!”

Sun-hyung had frozen in place, afraid that the fountain pen suddenly raised in the air would strike him. The pool of red seeping through the fabric of his pants was growing larger. Seeing the horrific sight before him, Sun-hyung turned pale as he shouted at Do-won.

But at that moment, when his mind momentarily cleared, an opportunity arose. Despite the unbearable pain contorting his face, Do-won forced his eyes open and pushed himself up with all his strength. Escaping from this suffocating and sickening pheromone was his top priority.

However, Sun-hyung, who had been lying on the bed, quickly got up and grabbed Do-won’s wrist just as he limped toward the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Haa… Let go of me.”

Do-won growled like a beast, his face filled with murderous intent as he tried to fling Sun-hyung off with all his might. At that moment—bang, bang! Urgent pounding on the door was followed by a loud voice that echoed through the room.

—“Team Leader! Team Leader, it’s me! Can you hear me?”

“…Assistant Han?”

Do-won’s eyes widened at the familiar voice from outside. His heart, which had been racing uncomfortably due to the rut-inducing drug, now pounded for an entirely different reason.

It was a voice he knew well. A voice he had missed.

Yu-young, calling his name loudly from beyond the door, seemed to soothe and comfort all of Do-won’s desperate struggles to escape the worst situation.

Would Yu-young have been anxiously waiting, worried sick while he was dragged away by Sun-hyung? That thought had been more distressing than anything else. When he had dropped the handkerchief in front of the company, it had been a desperate plea for someone to come find him. And now, just as he had wished, Yu-young had come. Reliable as always, and thankfully, not too late.

“That crazy bastard… Does he even know where he is?!”

Hearing Yu-young’s voice, Sun-hyung’s face twisted with madness. He released a stronger wave of pheromones and lunged toward Do-won, trying to turn him around. But Do-won was faster—his hand gripped the doorknob and twisted it open.

“Team Leader!”

The moment the door swung open—bang! It was flung wide as Yu-young burst into the room, fuming with rage.

His furious eyes quickly scanned the space. The room, thick with the scent of Omega pheromones, Do-won’s disheveled appearance, and Sun-hyung standing there in nothing but a hotel robe—just from that, Yu-young seemed to understand the situation instantly.

Would he misunderstand what had happened?

Just as Do-won limped toward him in urgency, Yu-young, moving swiftly, charged past him and tackled Sun-hyung to the ground. Before anyone could intervene, he threw a punch.

“Assistant Han!”

“You bastard—how dare you touch my husband…!”

Yu-young, seething with rage, raised his small, pale fist again and drove it straight into Sun-hyung’s face. Thud! The punch landed with a solid impact. Caught off guard, Sun-hyung fell onto the hotel floor, completely defenseless against Yu-young’s assault.

“Han Yu-young! Step away!”

At that moment, a group of people rushed in. Do-won’s eyes widened.

Following closely behind Yu-young—unexpectedly—were the police.

“Lee Sun-hyung. You are under emergency arrest for the use of illegal substances, kidnapping, and attempted sexual assault. You have the right to an attorney…”

The chaotic hotel room was a mess—Do-won, battered and disheveled, and Sun-hyung, the only one clad in a hotel robe. On the floor lay a discarded syringe and the severed restraints that had bound Do-won’s wrists.

The scene alone was enough to explain everything. The officers, after surveying the room, coldly presented the arrest warrant.

However, despite his pale face, Sun-hyung held his head high and glared at them with wide eyes.

“What?! Where’s your proof? You barge in here and start making accusations—do you even know who I am?!”

“Yeah, yeah. You can save all that for the police station. We’re here because we received a report along with secured evidence.”

With a nonchalant nod, one of the officers held up a transparent evidence bag containing a handkerchief. It was the one Do-won had deliberately let slip from the car earlier.

The drug in gas form was a banned substance capable of knocking someone unconscious with just a single breath. The handkerchief, still saturated with the highly concentrated drug that had left Do-won incapacitated, was more than sufficient as evidence.

“What the hell are you talking about? What about that handkerchief?!”

“Don’t play dumb. You took the antidote in advance so that you’d be unaffected, didn’t you? A blood test will confirm everything.”

With that, Sun-hyung’s mouth clamped shut. His furious eyes darted to Yu-young as his hands clenched together—before a pair of handcuffs snapped around his wrists.

“You need to come with us.”

“You think I’m going to let this slide?! I want my lawyer! Let go of me! Choi Do-won! You’re really going to let them take me away? You’re just going to stand there and do nothing?!”

Sun-hyung screamed in desperation, but Do-won’s cold expression remained unchanged. Though his breath came in ragged pants, his face was as impassive as stone.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s continue this at the station. You can say whatever you want there.”

As Sun-hyung, still struggling, was taken away by the police, the commotion gradually died down. However, Do-won’s gaze shifted toward a middle-aged man still standing in the room.

“…And he is?”

“Oh, he’s our attending physician. A genetic specialist. We brought him just in case.”

“Let’s take a look at your thigh first, and then we’ll need to draw some blood. That will be useful for the investigation as well.”

The doctor’s calm, professional explanation reassured Do-won, and he obediently lay back on the bed. With practiced hands, the doctor examined the wound before administering emergency hemostasis. The puncture from the fountain pen had gone deep.

Yu-young, watching the procedure, let out a horrified gasp.

“Oh my god, look at all this blood…! That crazy bastard—he did this to you?!”

“I did it myself.”

“…What?”

Yu-young looked bewildered, but the doctor remained impassive.

“The method was rough, but… you did well.”

“…Excuse me?”

“If you hadn’t done this, things could have turned out far worse.”

Yu-young, taking a moment to process the doctor’s words, slowly nodded with a troubled expression.

“By the way, Assistant Han. How did you know… and come all the way here?”

Biting down hard, Do-won forced the question out through the pain in his thigh and the heat coursing through his body.

With a worried expression, Yu-young took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from Do-won’s forehead before answering.

“Oh, that… You weren’t coming back for so long, and you weren’t answering your phone either. And today, I just had a really bad feeling. So I went near the office to check, and I found the handkerchief I gave you lying on the ground. It had a strange scent on it too…”

Yu-young’s brows furrowed slightly as he continued.

“It just felt wrong, so I called my father. One of his golf buddies is a high-ranking police official, so I asked him to help track your location.”

Even in this dire situation, Do-won couldn’t help but let out a few weak chuckles. His husband was so sharp, so clever—and so incredibly lovable.

“Doctor… Will my husband be okay? His wound looks deep…”

“I’ve done emergency first aid, but he’ll need proper treatment for a while.”

Yu-young’s worried gaze kept flickering to the thick bandages wrapped around Do-won’s thigh. His fingers, which occasionally brushed over Do-won’s disheveled face, trembled ever so slightly.

Looking at Yu-young’s face, Do-won felt a strong urge to reach out and touch that small, troubled expression.

This was a situation ripe for misunderstanding, yet Yu-young wasn’t doubting him. He could have blamed him, but he didn’t. Instead, all Yu-young’s face showed was pure concern—worry for his well-being. Even as his own face flushed under the influence of Do-won’s rut-induced pheromones, Yu-young was doing his best to stay composed.

Do-won felt something thick and overwhelming well up in his throat at the unwavering sincerity pouring from Yu-young.

“…Hah… Ugh… Haah…”

But his overheated body showed no signs of cooling down. He had thought that escaping Sun-hyung’s pheromones would be enough to settle this beastly, false impulse. But rut was rut—even if it had been artificially induced.

Do-won grimaced and covered his face with one hand. The heat pooling in his lower abdomen was unbearable. Even the pheromones that had sickened him earlier had forced their way into his body, prying him open against his will. And now, standing right in front of him was his precious Omega—someone he cherished beyond words.

With his own scent mixing into the air, growing richer and sweeter, Do-won was barely holding onto the last threads of his sanity.

The doctor quickly finished drawing his blood and handed the vial to the waiting officer outside the room. Meanwhile, he studied Do-won’s state with a grave expression.

“The rut has hit him quite severely. It needs to be dealt with immediately.”

The doctor met Do-won’s eyes and spoke in a solemn tone.

“With a rut this intense, suppressant medication alone won’t be enough.”

“…Then…?”

“Yes. Right now…”

The doctor trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

Yu-young tensed, then nodded at the doctor and gave a polite bow.

“…Thank you for coming, doctor.”

Once the doctor left, Yu-young turned sharply toward Do-won. By now, Do-won’s condition had worsened to the point where he could barely manage a word of farewell. He had gritted his teeth and fought against the burning urges surging within him, but he was reaching his limit.

Damn it…

Covering his face with his arm, Do-won bit back a curse. This was the last thing he wanted to show Yu-young. It was bad enough that he had fallen for such a ridiculous trap, but now, to let his lover see him like this—pathetically drowning in an artificial rut, consumed by primal instincts—was unbearable.

“Team Leader. You heard him… We need to start now.”

Yu-young, his expression tense, began slipping off his cardigan.

But before he could go any further, Do-won’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

Yu-young flinched at the heat searing through Do-won’s grip.

“…Let’s go to the hospital. Right now.”

“Team Leader!”

“…It doesn’t have to completely go away. I’ll manage it somehow.”

“What are you saying?! Why are you being so stubborn?!”

Yu-young’s voice rose in frustration, but Do-won simply clenched his jaw and shook his head.

“…It’s okay. Just do as I say.”

“No, at least tell me why. It’s not like we’ve never…!”

Yu-young trailed off, clearly struggling to understand. He pried Do-won’s hand off his wrist, but even that light touch sent tremors through Do-won’s core, making his thighs tense involuntarily.

Did Yu-young even realize? That Do-won was the one barely holding himself together?

Any other time, it would have been natural—normal—to want his beloved Omega. But right now, his body and mind were steeped in a darkness too dangerous to ignore. If they started… he had no idea what he would do before it ended.

“…I can’t trust myself.”

His voice came out rough and strained.

“It won’t be like usual. You might… end up seeing me as a monster. …Haa… No, you definitely will.”