YHP 31

His whole body was a ball of fire. His throat was so swollen that a thin metallic sound leaked out with every breath he took.

Ho-jin wrapped Jeong-in’s body with the clothes he had taken off before breaking down the door. Then, he carefully supported his neck and secured his airway.

“I’ll call an ambulance. Let’s go to the hospital first.”

“…No.”

Jeong-in, who was lying limply in his arms with a pale face, suddenly reached out at those words. His fingertips, hovering over Ho-jin’s clothes, were trembling. Take me home, uneven breaths were mixed between the low syllables.

Ho-jin cooled his head and looked at the situation once again.

He was perfectly fine just last night. His condition had deteriorated so suddenly that he briefly wondered if it was a heat cycle, but Jeong-in’s appearance, as if he was about to die, didn’t seem to be related to the excitement or elation that was generally known to be a symptom of a heat cycle.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

It wasn’t difficult to come to a conclusion. Whatever this was, it was clear that Jeong-in was in a dangerous condition right now. The high fever, which made it difficult for him to even come to his senses, was a problem, but his pulse and breathing were not normal.

Judging from the fact that he was putting strength into his whole body even though he couldn’t move a finger, it seemed that he was enduring a lot of pain. He needed to get professional treatment first, whether it was painkillers or something else.

“…Please, I’m begging you.”

It was the moment he grabbed his cell phone again. Jeong-in suddenly burst into tears.

“I’ll go to the hospital when I get a little better…. Ah, heuk…. I have medicine at home….”

It seemed that the pain was coming again. Jeong-in couldn’t even make a sound and just shed tears as he curled up. Even in the midst of all this, he begged to the end that he couldn’t go to the hospital. Ho-jin sighed as he hugged him tightly as he burrowed into his arms.

Even in a situation where he couldn’t breathe properly from the pain, if Jeong-in refused this much, there must be a good reason. Yoo Ho-jin had no right or anything to pry into it. All he could do was move Jeong-in to a safe place.

First, he should take him home to observe his condition, and if it seemed to get more dangerous, he should go to the hospital immediately.

“Okay.”

He rummaged through his bag and put on a mask and hat. It was to prevent contact with people who might recognize him and stop him. Then, he slipped his hand under Jeong-in’s completely shrunken arm. He gently massaged the stiff muscles to relax them and lifted him from the floor. He hugged the body that kept trying to collapse and left the bathroom.

Without knowing what he was doing, he started running with Jeong-in in his arms. Even though it wasn’t a long distance, Jeong-in kept losing and regaining consciousness in his arms. Every time that happened, he seemed to be fainting from the pain and waking up again, judging by the way his shoulders trembled. Checking his condition from time to time, Ho-jin ran like the wind to Jeong-in’s house and gently supported him.

“What’s the password?”

His breathing was now too faint. Anxious, Ho-jin asked, and Jeong-in recited four simple numbers. Even the fact that he had been living dangerously with the password set to 1111 until now didn’t matter at all. Ho-jin immediately entered the room and laid Jeong-in on the bed. As soon as he touched the mattress, his small back curled up. The sound of his teeth chattering could be heard.

“You said you had medicine. Where is it?”

He didn’t seem to have the strength to open his mouth. Ho-jin began to search the desolate house like a fine-tooth comb. He rummaged through the desk and drawers, and opened all the kitchen cabinets. And finally, when he entered the bathroom, he saw a medicine bottle tucked away in the corner of the cabinet. Since he couldn’t find anything even remotely resembling medicine anywhere else, it seemed that the medicine Jeong-in mentioned was probably this.

But this medicine was a suppressant. Coincidentally, it was the exact same product that Ho-jin was taking.

R1 type suppressant. With his eyes fixed on the label, Ho-jin recalled something Jeong-in had said once.

‘Because of a hormone disorder.’

‘I lived knowing myself as a beta all along, but I manifested at sixteen.’

He might be having a heat cycle. Gripping the suppressant tightly, he rushed to Jeong-in.

“Hyung, there’s medicine here.”

He lifted Jeong-in, who was lying motionless, and pushed the medicine into his mouth. After making sure he swallowed it well, he laid him back down, and every part he touched felt hot.

He needed to lower his body temperature first. He took out a towel and a handkerchief from his bag and soaked them thoroughly in lukewarm water. He folded the handkerchief into a small square and placed it on Jeong-in’s forehead, and gently wiped the skin under the rolled-up sleeves with the towel.

“Hngh…”

As soon as the cloth touched him, Jeong-in tried to escape, gasping for breath. It seemed to hurt just to have something touch his body.

It was only natural. With his body so hot, the cold touch probably felt like being cut with a knife. But he had no choice if he wanted to cool him down even a little. He gritted his teeth and carefully wiped his neck and face.

Before long, his rapid breathing subsided slightly. Constantly checking to see if he would lose consciousness again, Ho-jin pressed his fingers firmly on the inside of Jeong-in’s wrist and checked his pulse. Whether it was because the medicine was already working, his pulse didn’t seem as unstable as it had been in the bathroom.

“…Hah.”

Only then did a sigh of relief escape. Ho-jin slid down to the floor and leaned his head against the bed.

The wet towel remained on the back of Jeong-in’s hand. Beyond it, he could see the bandage he had wrapped around it last night.

“……”

Is this person’s heat cycle this painful? Has it always been like this?

Imagining it, his heart ached with a sense of desolation. The images of Jeong-in, always sharp and prickly, came back to life one by one and unfolded before his eyes.

He had to be that way. There was absolutely nothing Jeong-in could do about it.

If all the heat cycles he had gone through in his life had been as painful as today, if he had to endure this pain every time. He must have tried very hard. Of course, he must have been sensitive all the time. He wouldn’t have had time to spare for others.

“…Yoo Ho-jin.”

“Yes.”

He deliberately made his voice calm to hide his emotions. Then Jeong-in said, with a much calmer breath.

“Thank you.”

He was in so much pain that he felt like he was going to die, and the first thing he said when he came to his senses was…

“….”

Such a soft and kind person.

He must have had a hard time.

“…And now go.”

A tear fell from Ho-jin’s eyes, which were buried in the mattress. He quickly wiped it away, afraid that Jeong-in would notice, and raised his head. His face, with his eyes closed quietly, was pale. It was similar to the way he looked the first day they met.

He must have been like this back then too. He must have collapsed because he was in so much pain. Back then, he had just looked at that white face and thought it was pure and beautiful, but now he realized that he shouldn’t have. He should have recognized that his complexion was pale because he was in a lot of pain.

He couldn’t forgive himself for being so oblivious and flustered, not knowing anything.

“Can’t I stay here?”

“No.”

Jeong-in refused flatly.

“…Really, I can’t?”

“I just want to rest alone. Please.”

He seemed very tired. Now he had to listen to him. Ho-jin averted his gaze from his face.

“You have to call me whenever you need anything.”

Jeong-in didn’t answer. Barely moving his reluctant steps, Ho-jin stood at the door and slowly put on his shoes.

He opened the door and stepped outside. Picking up the breakfast that was left untouched in front of the door, he added once more.

“…Definitely.”

Even though he already knew that Jeong-in was a person who was very used to enduring pain alone,

And that he would never call him.

---

The conditioning center, which was attached to the hospital, was as busy as ever all morning. As soon as they fixed a shooting athlete with a twisted back and sent him out, a soccer player with water in his knee rushed in. After finally sending an archer with a sprained wrist to the orthopedic department, it was finally lunchtime. As Doctor Kwon was about to tear open a cup of ramen, she stopped unwrapping it at the sudden sound of a knock.

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Huh?”

Ho-jin peeked his head out from behind the door. Doctor Kwon hurriedly checked the monitor. But as expected, there was no appointment scheduled under Ho-jin’s name today.

“You’re not supposed to be here today?”

“Ah, I came because I wanted to ask you something personally.”

With those words, Ho-jin handed Doctor Kwon something wrapped in a cloth. When she opened it, she found a pan of lasagna that was steaming hot, as if it had just been baked.

“I thought you might not have eaten yet, so I made it.”

“Oh my goodness, how can I ever thank you enough… Sit down first.”

When she offered him a seat, Ho-jin politely bowed and sat down in front of her.

“So, what are you curious about?”

“Um… Doctor, you see a lot of heteromorphic athletes, right?”

Doctor Kwon nodded. After hesitating for a moment, Ho-jin asked again.

“Do you happen to know anything about hormone disorders?”

“What kind of disorder?”

In fact, heteromorphs themselves are not common, and even among them, people living with disabilities are even rarer, but there are more than one or two types of hormone disorders. There are cases where the trait suddenly changes, and there are also cases where a person is diagnosed but never manifests until death. Conversely, there have been occasional reports of cases where people manifest without being diagnosed.

“I don’t know exactly, but I heard that he manifested around puberty without being diagnosed.”

“Ah, LGS? That’s very rare.”

Doctor Kwon cut a small piece of the warm lasagna and put it in her mouth. Then, she tapped on the keyboard and printed out a document. It was a handout explaining LGS and a couple of papers.

“Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?”

“There’s someone around me who has it, and he seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“…Is he an Alpha?”

“No.”

It was an unexpected answer. Omega’s LGS (Late gene expression syndrome) was one of the rarest of all disability types.

If you only count the people who are still alive among the cases reported in Korea, the total number is less than twenty nationwide, but TH Group’s third generation happens to be one of them, so the group’s medical institutions have been working on it for six years, but there has been no special progress yet.

“Ho-jin. I might be rude to ask you this.”

“Yes?”

“I’m asking because it’s a problem that’s directly related to how you manage your sensitivity in the future, so don’t take it badly. Do you have a lover?”

A question mark appeared on Ho-jin’s face at Doctor Kwon’s question. She ate another piece of lasagna and added.

“If you know an omega with LGS, I thought you might be… in a deep relationship.”

Ho-jin still looked like he didn’t understand what she was talking about.