The crown of his head, bent forward to inspect the wound, was perfectly round. His jet-black hair was soft and neatly shaped, but curiously, he had two whorls at the top, which made a few strands stick up like tiny antennae, swaying like radar dishes.
“Ha-jin, has anyone ever told you that?”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a saying—if you’ve got two hair whorls, you’ll get married twice.”
Cheon Tae-seong joked as he blew on the bothersome hair waving right in front of his nose. Ha-jin, however, was too busy dabbing the blood with a tissue and carefully sticking on a bandage to even react.
Tae-seong chuckled as Ha-jin ignored the comment like it wasn’t worth responding to, calmly tidying up the first aid supplies. Some things never change.
“All set now?”
“I’ll take care of it next time.”
“Next time?”
Tae-seong, who had obediently held out his hand until now, leaned down and whispered in Ha-jin’s ear.
“Then I won’t wash up. I’ll wait for you.”
“……”
“Hm?”
“I’ll try to avoid any unnecessary blood draws, but in case we do need to, I’ll let you know. Like I said before, we still need accurate reference data…”
Ha-jin stepped back from his embrace, waving his hand dismissively as he explained. Then he pulled a thick notebook from his bag and jotted down the pheromone levels displayed on the analyzer. His head remained bowed low. Just a moment ago, he couldn’t look down; now, he couldn’t look up.
Tae-seong silently watched him for a moment, then abruptly walked off. When he returned a short while later, he was holding some medication and a wallet.
“Ha-jin, you’ve gotta eat breakfast. Just tell me what you want—Dae-hong’ll go get it for you. Right, Dae-hong?”
Kim Dae-hong, who had locked eyes with Ha-jin, gave a subtle nod.
“I’m fine. I already ate.”
Tae-seong promptly tossed the wallet at Dae-hong.
“Then eat again. Go grab something simple.”
The way Dae-hong caught the wallet looked like a catcher snatching a ball. The thud made Ha-jin flinch slightly. Tae-seong flashed a bright smile, his teeth neatly aligned.
“From tomorrow on, don’t eat breakfast. Come eat with the boss.”
Dae-hong casually peeked into the wallet and, seeing the wad of bills inside, bowed deeply and said, “Thank you, sir!” Then, grinning from ear to ear, he dashed out of the room. He was probably thrilled at the thought of feeding the whole team with that cash.
Tae-seong had always been old-fashioned when it came to money—he preferred physical cash over digital payments. Even that hadn’t changed. Back in his past life, Ha-jin had found it embarrassingly outdated for someone of Tae-seong’s status. But now, knowing the reason behind it, he couldn’t just laugh it off anymore.
Ha-jin quietly watched Tae-seong take his morning medication. Those eyes staring back at him were still beautiful. For a moment, it felt like he’d returned to a time before everything fell apart—back when they were simply… okay.
“Lee Ha-jin.”
Perched atop a high chair, Tae-seong spread his arms and beckoned with a curl of his finger.
“Come here and take in the pheromones.”
Ha-jin obediently stepped in between his legs, and a sweet, radiant scent immediately washed over him. Starting from the crown of his head, it soaked into his skin like a warm drizzle.
Pheromones were invisible chemical signals—substances released by endocrine glands to attract and seduce a mating partner. That’s why Betas couldn’t detect the scent at all.
The tingling sensation on his skin, the heady fragrance, the glow that seemed to shimmer behind Tae-seong… All of it was part of the illusion only an Omega could perceive. It was ironic—he couldn’t use his broken pheromone glands, yet only when receiving an Alpha’s pheromones did he truly feel like an Omega.
What would it feel like for a normal Omega to receive Cheon Tae-seong’s pheromones…?
It had been about a year since Ha-jin started working beside Tae-seong. There was an incident once—on a remote southern island where a luxury resort was under construction. Tae-seong had gone to inspect the site, and Ha-jin accompanied him.
On the final night of the trip, an Omega in heat snuck into Tae-seong’s suite. She was the daughter of a powerful politician with close ties to the Cheon family. Banking on her father’s influence, she’d planned to force herself on Tae-seong using her pheromones.
A calculated assault. No matter how she dressed it up, it was still attempted rape.
She’d even bribed several staff members on the trip to pull it off. She must’ve believed that once their pheromones mingled, things would naturally progress from there.
But Tae-seong hadn’t even flinched. Even though it wasn’t during his rut, his patience had been incredible—enough to impress Ha-jin himself. Tae-seong had grabbed the Omega, completely lost in heat, by the scruff of the neck and dragged her out into the hallway, expressionless.
“I’ll toss her straight into a pigsty. Move.”
“You can’t, sir. You know who she is. If the Chairman finds out—”
Even with his aides invoking the Chairman’s name, stopping him had been a struggle.
Ha-jin remembered that Omega’s face and scent vividly. Though he couldn’t detect her pheromones, he had seen her soaked lower half dragging wet trails across the black marble floors as she was hauled away.
“Ha-jin.”
“…Yes?”
The way Tae-seong casually used informal speech now felt completely natural. But it was hard to know where to look—his loosely tied robe was open, exposing a good portion of his bare chest.
“It’s your first day. Need anything?”
“Nothing in particular. As long as you tell me everything I need to know, I’ll be fine.”
“Alright.”
The pheromone shower, which had felt unusually long, finally ended. Tae-seong reached up and straightened the collar of Ha-jin’s shirt. He adjusted the slightly crooked tie, then gently patted his shoulders. His hands were nearly twice the size of Ha-jin’s, but his touch was remarkably delicate.
Ha-jin, watching quietly, met his gaze just as Tae-seong looked up from adjusting his clothes.
“I’m counting on you, Manager.”
His sculpted lips curved into a gentle arc.
***
And so, the week spent with Cheon Tae-seong—or perhaps more accurately, their week of reunion—seemed to pass without incident.
No, more than that. It felt smooth. Surprisingly smooth. Ha-jin behaved exactly as he had during his first stint as Tae-seong’s pheromone manager in the previous timeline—following him around like an innocent little lamb, jotting down every detail into his notebook.
Tae-seong seemed to enjoy Ha-jin’s diligent behavior. That, too, was exactly as it had been before. He liked Ha-jin’s sincere work ethic, never playing games or cutting corners, and readily offered up personal information to make things easier.
“I’m only saying this because you keep writing everything down… Think of it as me trying to save you some trouble.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“I can’t eat spicy food. I prefer subtle flavors.”
It was information Ha-jin already knew, but he wrote it down anyway. Tae-seong leaned over and peeked into his notebook, then smiled and added:
“And I don’t like eating alone. I prefer leisurely meals. I like soft, round foods. Maybe it’s because of my pheromones, but I can’t stand things with overpowering smells…”
Among all the things he shared, some were familiar, others were new, and a few had changed. But that didn’t matter. All Ha-jin had to do was write them down. Compared to the clients in his past who barked, “Figuring me out is part of your damn job!”, Tae-seong’s elegance was practically a relief.
How could anyone expect to know something if they weren’t told?
“You’re really enjoying this, huh?”
By the time his notebook was stuffed with notes, Ha-jin even found himself feeling proud. When Tae-seong asked why he was smiling, Ha-jin looked up, only for the man to reach out and gently brush a finger along the curve of his lips.
It was a strange touch—enough to make Ha-jin question it—but he didn’t say anything about how soft or tender it felt. Tae-seong just smiled.
“Ask anything you’re curious about.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. It’s your job.”
The result of those few days of observations? Tae-seong actually felt… approachable. That belief—that this man was experiencing him for the first time—grew stronger, and with it came a quiet sense of relief.
Nothing he’d feared had happened. Being around Tae-seong was even… pleasant. If there was a downside, it was the unintentional glimpse of his bare body that first morning—but even that now seemed unlikely to happen again.
Especially since Tae-seong said he wouldn’t wash until Ha-jin came.
If things kept going like this, he could build his resume, save money, and continue funding Yushin’s treatment without issue. He could finally start sketching out a cautious future plan in his mind.
Or so he thought.
I was too naive.
Exactly one week later—Monday.
Ha-jin found himself trapped in one of the seven bathrooms in Cheon Tae-seong’s penthouse. Technically, he had hidden there himself. But considering he couldn’t leave, “trapped” was accurate.
Thump, thump, thump, thump—his heart pounded fiercely. Whether it was fear, anxiety, or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. Sitting curled up on the bathroom floor, he scrubbed at his burning lips with the back of his hand.
“Ha-jin—”
Tae-seong’s voice made his shoulders jolt.
The house was massive, and Tae-seong moved so gracefully that his footsteps made no sound. Ha-jin had no way of knowing where he was from the noise alone. But his sharpened senses picked up the Alpha’s pheromones.
Step. Step. The scent was like footsteps echoing through the air.
“Lee Ha-jin, where could you be?”
Curled up, listening to Tae-seong searching just beyond the door, Ha-jin felt a chill run down his spine. It was as if a cold wind swept through. Memories of standing on a cliff above the deep blue sea came flooding back.
How did it come to this…?
Clutching his head, he traced it all back.
Three days ago—the signs had already begun.
