The Main Character is Obsessed With a Foreign Substance

“You seem to be doing well these days?”

Jaehyun slapped Seunghyun’s shoulder with the document he was reading. Seunghyun, who was organizing research materials next to Jaehyun, frowned.

“Why are you picking on me again?”

“You were looking like death until recently, but now you’re grinning all the time, that’s why, you fool.”

There had been a truly shocking incident not long ago. Seunghyun’s fiancé, Suhwan, had been kidnapped and assaulted by some madman. It was the same day Seunghyun had suddenly rushed out of the laboratory.

In truth, there was something suspicious about that incident. When Seunghyun couldn’t contact Suhwan, he immediately left the lab and even earnestly insisted that Jaehyun should not leave the lab. Almost as if he knew what had happened to Suhwan.

‘No way, that’s impossible.’

But Jaehyun quickly pushed the thought that had momentarily crossed his mind into a corner of his brain. His brother seemed to have gone a bit crazy while he wasn’t looking, but he wouldn’t have gone as far as committing a crime. Jaehyun grimaced and looked at Seunghyun again.

“Is Suhwan okay?”

“He’s fine, of course.”

“If he’s fine, shouldn’t he be coming to the lab? Ah, the chairman was quite worried.”

Though the perpetrator had been caught, it seemed Seunghyun had told Suhwan to stay home because of the commotion that was still ongoing. Jaehyun was worried about Suhwan, who hadn’t been seen for a while, and also missed him a little. He wished he could at least see him looking well for a moment. He hadn’t even been able to visit him in the hospital because of various other matters.

After thinking for a moment, Jaehyun asked Seunghyun:

“Then should I go visit him once?”

For some reason, Seunghyun’s face hardened at the casual question. Jaehyun looked at him with puzzled eyes.

“Don’t come.”

“Why?”

“Hyung, you have a lot of work to do.”

“Well, that’s true.”

They were really close to developing a new drug. Of course, the important experiments were finished and only the clinical trial phase remained, but there was still much to pay attention to. Finding and organizing relevant papers was no joke either. Jaehyun sighed with dark circles under his eyes.

“But how can you be so cold? I should at least visit him once.”

“Hyung, you’ve never visited anyone who was sick before.”

“Hey, that’s—!”

Jaehyun shouted at Seunghyun’s biting remark. But he had nothing appropriate to say. It was because he had actually lived that way. Groaning with an “ugh,” Jaehyun mumbled:

“But he’s going to be my in-law soon.”

This was excessive interest from Jaehyun, who typically never cared about others’ affairs. And Seunghyun felt displeased that Suhwan was the object of that interest. Seunghyun answered in a rather cold tone:

“I’m taking good care of him, so don’t worry.”

Pheromones that seemed to warn Jaehyun not to take any more interest stabbed at him. Jaehyun, who was recessive to a dominant’s pheromones, flinched for a moment. He couldn’t say anything for a while.

Cold sweat broke out unnecessarily. What is he so displeased about? Trying to act as if nothing was wrong, Jaehyun looked back at the paper materials and then glanced at Seunghyun. He cautiously opened his mouth as Seunghyun instantly reined in his pheromones.

“Come to think of it, your heat is coming soon, right?”

“…Ah.”

At Jaehyun’s question, Seunghyun just realized that his heat cycle was approaching.

During his last heat cycle, he had really exhausted Suhwan. And now they were trying not to have a deep relationship due to their pheromone issues, but if his heat hit strongly like last time, it would be troublesome. Seunghyun’s expression hardened as he asked Jaehyun:

“Are the suppressants ready?”

“Yes, it was hard to adjust them for you, man.”

With pheromone levels raging so wildly. Jaehyun was shocked when he saw the results of Seunghyun’s recent pheromone level test at the hospital. No wonder the suppressants made for his previous condition wouldn’t work. Jaehyun clicked his tongue inwardly and tilted his head.

“I left them on the desk over there, so take them.”

“Okay.”

Seunghyun nodded after glancing at the desk.

He hoped the new suppressants would work well. He didn’t want Suhwan to be harmed because of his pheromones either.

So far, everything was going smoothly. Although confining Suhwan to a room was somewhat impulsive, he didn’t regret it. At that time, he somehow thought he needed to do it. And that thought hadn’t changed. What he wanted was for no one to see or meet Suhwan. He wanted to be the only one to see Suhwan’s face, talk to him, and touch him.

But this sweet time would end before long. Hwalyeon, who adored Suhwan terribly, wouldn’t sit still. She would be able to be deceived for at most about a month.

So he needed to leave before she noticed. Since it would be difficult to hide anywhere in the country, it would be better to go abroad. With a composed face, Seunghyun methodically laid out plans in his head that would make anyone faint if they knew.

***

Surprisingly peaceful days continued.

Suhwan was sitting on the bed, fresh and fluffy after just finishing a bath. His whole body felt warm and languid, making his eyes close involuntarily, but he forcibly pushed his eyelids up.

When he was alone, he would eat the meals Seunghyun had prepared and left for him, and wash himself, but things were different when Seunghyun returned. He had to eat the food Seunghyun fed him, and even receive bath assistance. Since he would have to bathe again when Seunghyun returned anyway, he stopped showering when he was alone. So today, too, Suhwan didn’t move a finger to wash himself. Seunghyun had washed him from head to toe as if he were a baby.

Although Seunghyun had confined him to the room, his behavior was completely different from Jin Suhwan’s. He had no intention of sexually harassing him, nor did he act violently. He simply served Suhwan like a servant, saying it was something he had wanted to do for a long time. As soon as he came home, he would bathe Suhwan and change his clothes. Then after feeding him dinner, he would give him snacks. It felt like what people called “emperor imprisonment.”

“Haa.”

Suhwan’s eyes scanned the room. There were piles of books and gaming consoles that Seunghyun had provided so he wouldn’t get bored. But among them, there were no smart phones, tablets, or other electronic devices with communication functions. As expected, Seunghyun absolutely refused to allow Suhwan to have a phone.

His mind was still anxious. He needed to resolve this situation quickly, but he couldn’t see a way out. Nothing would be solved by sitting here helplessly.

Even if Seunghyun hadn’t harmed him, confining someone in a room like this was clearly a crime. If Hwalyeon found out, she would definitely not leave Seunghyun alone. She might even handle it quietly without involving the police.

“What should I do?”

Suddenly, someone’s words came to Suhwan’s mind.

‘If anything happens, contact me.’

Words spoken to him as if the person already knew this would happen.

‘You must.’

“Kwon Heeyoung.”

Kwon Heeyoung, one of Seunghyun’s colleagues. Since the moment the manifested Suhwan first met her, she had said strange things. She had abruptly given him her contact information and told him to call if anything happened, and advised him that Chairman Jin Gilnyeong wouldn’t help him, so he should ask Hwalyeon for help. She had given him sincere advice with an expressionless face that made her true intentions hard to read.

Suhwan thought she might be a manifested person like himself. And following her advice, he had approached Hwalyeon, after which most things had turned out well. Although now he was in a difficult situation because of another problem.

Perhaps Heeyoung could help him this time too. Suhwan was lost in thought before shaking his head.

Not only did he have no way to contact her, but Heeyoung was a fragile beta woman. She could get involved and end up in a bad situation. Suhwan bit his lip.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly his head throbbed with pain. He had been getting headaches frequently these past few days, probably due to stress. But today, it felt like he had a fever as well.

“Ah, that’s right.”

Now that he thought about it, the time for his rut seemed to have passed. He couldn’t confirm the exact date, so he wasn’t sure, but it seemed certain that the time when his rut should have come had passed.

Was it because his pheromone levels were rock bottom that even his rut wouldn’t come now? Suhwan sighed deeply. Since Jin Suhwan’s body was originally recessive, his ruts weren’t severe. The rut that had suddenly hit after he and Seunghyun started living together again was unusual. He thought it might have been because his pheromones went wild with a dominant omega nearby.

But now, due to his abnormal relationship with Seunghyun, his pheromone levels had dropped, and he was barely maintaining an alpha’s pheromones by taking medication. To be honest, Suhwan felt more comfortable now. He didn’t want to experience losing his mind due to rut ever again.

Click.

“…!”

Seunghyun opened the door and entered the room. He slowly approached the bed, holding a tray. After placing the tray on the bedside table, Seunghyun looked at Suhwan with curious eyes.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”

Seunghyun uncannily noticed and asked because Suhwan was frowning due to his headache. Suhwan answered in surprise:

“Just, my head hurts a little.”