With both arms wrapped around his face as if shielding it, the way he tucked himself into Ha-jin’s embrace made it seem like he was trying to block out the sound. Kwak Mari found it a bit puzzling at first—but the confusion didn’t last long. An Alpha had brushed past them and let out a faint trail of pheromones that hadn’t been fully contained.
“You’ve seriously got the nose of a bloodhound.”
Mari rubbed her forehead and let out a sheepish laugh. She was known for being sensitive too, but this time, she hadn’t even noticed the Alpha approaching.
“Hyung, I’m fine. I can’t breathe—let me go.”
“You sure you’re okay? Not dizzy or anything?”
Even as Yushin nodded, Ha-jin didn’t let go right away. Instead, he closely examined his brother’s face, his gaze dripping with worry like honey.
“Ugh, you two are gross. Seriously, knock it off.”
The way the brothers clung to each other was so overflowing with affection, it made the people nearby visibly uncomfortable. Mari grumbled that people might get the wrong idea, but inwardly, she clicked her tongue.
Maybe the reason Ha-jin had developed such an intensely sensitive physique and pheromone-sensing ability was because he’d spent his life protecting his younger brother. He definitely wasn’t like this when Mari first met him. His sense, now more precise than any pheromone detector, had only sharpened with age.
As a pheromone manager, Ha-jin’s skills were unrivaled. But the growing problem was that Alphas—especially those under contract—were going crazy over him.
In the world of second-gendered individuals, especially among dominant Alphas, beauty was hardly rare. Yet Ha-jin had this something—an atmosphere that irresistibly drew the eye. Put bluntly, he was the kind of person who attracted flies.
Maybe it was the way his allure had matured over time, but in the past year alone, every Alpha he’d worked with had acted like a moth to a flame, trying to get their hands on him.
It was only getting worse, and Mari was starting to feel genuinely concerned. Lately, setting up new jobs for Ha-jin felt like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
She couldn’t just tell him to look for something else—not with those hospital bills. But at the same time, she couldn’t exactly ask him to just put up with those slimy hands. It was a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t kind of situation.
Another issue: ever since his near-death experience, Ha-jin’s personality had changed completely—he absolutely refused to tolerate anything. And there was no guarantee the next Alpha wouldn’t try something either.
Was there even an Alpha out there who wouldn’t try to grope Ha-jin’s ass?
“Ugh, I give up.”
When she suddenly reached out and pinched his cheek, Ha-jin blinked in confusion, his eyes round with surprise.
The brothers rode back home in Mari’s car. She skillfully parked in a tight alley and helped unload their things from the trunk. Then she turned to Ha-jin.
“You’re not planning to take a break, right? I’m putting you back on the standby manager list.”
Ha-jin didn’t answer right away. He still had election posters from the drive home flashing before his eyes. Truthfully, he just wanted to disappear into the mountains until the election was over.
When he hesitated, quietly counting the days in his head, Mari looked at him curiously. Once she saw Yushin had gone inside and shut the front door, she lowered her voice.
“Is Yushin off the meds now? Is his treatment improving?”
If only. Ha-jin shook his head.
A new drug, the perfect fit for Yushin, would hit the market in less than two years. For any real improvement in Yushin’s condition, Ha-jin had to hold out until that day.
The date was etched into his phone calendar the moment he returned to the past. For Yushin, that day marked hope—and for Ha-jin, it was the day he’d finally be free.
Remembering that, Ha-jin bit down hard on his lower lip.
“Go ahead and put me on, noona. I need the money.”
“Alright.”
Mari gave his back a few quick pats, as if brushing it off. Ha-jin forced a smile, waved his hand as if nothing was wrong, and tried to shake off the sinking feeling in his gut.
In this life, unlike the last, he’d taken on anonymous, low-paying work under the ridiculous alias Kim Nalgae. He was sacrificing quite a lot just to avoid running into Cheon Tae-seong. There’s no way they’d actually cross paths, right?
And even if fate did throw them together again, he could always refuse the match from his end.
Unless some freak twist of probability—like being struck by lightning twice in a row—kicked in, there was no way he’d ever see Cheon Tae-seong again.
***
At twenty-seven of his first life, Ha-jin walked briskly, clutching a slip of paper Mari had given him with his newly assigned client’s name.
Cheon Tae-seong.
Did they give him that name because he was born an Alpha or something? It sounded so strong, it made Ha-jin snort to himself.
After exiting the subway, he walked for another twenty minutes or so. The building standing atop the massive property looked more like a fortress than an office. It was dead silent inside—probably because it was the weekend.
After passing through several guards posted like gatekeepers, Ha-jin finally reached the heart of the “castle,” where Cheon Tae-seong sat waiting.
“This one’s a dominant Alpha among dominant Alphas,” Mari had said.
Ha-jin stopped dead in his tracks, unable to approach. The moment he caught scent of Tae-seong’s sharply marked territory, instinct warned him to keep his distance.
We’re polar opposites.
Only when someone gave him a gentle push on the back did Ha-jin finally move, taking a seat across from Tae-seong. The secretary, looking uneasy, served tea and handed over the contract.
After a brief explanation of the contract terms, the secretary bowed out. To ease the tension, Tae-seong made a light joke and offered a polite greeting.
His deep, smooth voice practically radiated warmth. Ha-jin had never felt anything like it while meeting with a client. He found himself mesmerized by Tae-seong’s face, his voice—he couldn’t even focus on the contract amount. It was dangerously distracting. A beauty that short-circuited reason.
Are all dominant Alphas this inhumanly beautiful?
Even as Ha-jin rattled off his standard explanation about pheromone management, his eyes kept darting back to Tae-seong. The only reason he wasn’t completely tongue-tied was because he’d memorized this script like the back of his hand.
“…By regulating rut cycles this way, you can prevent unwanted bonding and pregnancy.”
“Got it.”
“Once we’ve fully charted your pheromone rhythm, we’ll check your levels and overall condition once a week if you’re not close to rut, and daily when you are. Of course, we can adjust the schedule however you prefer.”
Tae-seong just sat there, listening with a blank expression. The smile he’d shown earlier had vanished—like it had been a mirage.
Looking at him, Ha-jin suddenly thought of that nameless statue of a god in his high school art room.
He feels dangerous.
This man wasn’t like any Alpha he’d ever met. The atmosphere around him was calm and unhurried, yet there was something deeply off about it. Every word he spoke sounded gentlemanly, but Ha-jin couldn’t let his guard down. There were no groping hands, no lewd touches—but he felt like he was about to be swallowed whole.
“By the way… Lee Ha-jin, was it?”
Suddenly, Tae-seong called his name.
His pale eyes gleamed strangely, like sunlight captured and turned to heat. When he rose and walked forward, a shadow fell across Ha-jin’s body.
Creak.
A large hand pressed against the sofa. Tae-seong’s solid knee wedged itself between Ha-jin’s thighs. One hand covered Ha-jin’s abdomen.
“You said no unwanted pregnancies, right?”
“…I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The spot where his hand touched sizzled with heat. Ha-jin couldn’t tell if it was from Tae-seong’s body temperature or something else. All he knew was—it was a sensation he’d never felt before.
“You came at me with this in mind, didn’t you?”
The pressure on his lower stomach intensified. It was getting harder to endure. The area felt like it had been burned.
A faint smirk appeared on Tae-seong’s sculpted face—undeniable ridicule.
“You said you don’t go into heat… So what’s this, Ha-jin?”
You mocked me for being an animal in rut—But you’re no different, are you?
“Ha! You fucking slut. Looking this damn sexy and pretending you’re a manager? You’re just looking for a good—”
Suddenly, a piercing scream rang out, loud and sharp like a pig being slaughtered.
“Hyung!”
Hands shook him by the shoulders, and Ha-jin’s eyes snapped open. Cold sweat soaked his back. He blinked several times, struggling to focus—Yushin’s worried face loomed close.
“Huh…? Wh-What?”
“Your phone’s been ringing like crazy. I figured it was urgent and answered it—it’s Mari noona. She wants to talk to you.”
“…Oh.”
Still dazed, Ha-jin ran a hand through his hair. Yushin handed him the phone with an impatient nudge. He took it without thinking, bringing it to his ear just in time to hear Mari calling his name over and over.
— Ha-jin? Ha-jin?!
Meanwhile, Yushin brought over a towel and gently dabbed his brother’s forehead. Apparently, his face was drenched in sweat too. Yushin’s heart ached seeing him like this—how tired must he have been to get this sick?
Ha-jin slowly returned to reality. It had just been a nightmare—an absurd, impossible dream.
This was his house. He’d survived a whole year after returning to the past. His younger brother was safe and close by.
He sat up and finally answered Mari.
“Yes, noona. I’m here. What’s up?”
The moment she heard his voice, Mari rattled off her message like a machine gun. Nothing major—just that a new client had already been assigned.
He thought she sounded a bit rushed, but Mari was always the impatient type, so he didn’t dwell on it.
With a calm expression, Ha-jin accepted the towel from Yushin and wiped his face. Then he stepped into the living room and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
But just as he was about to take a drink, a single word from the phone froze him mid-motion.
He barely managed to choke down a scream and asked again:
“…What was the name?”
