For some reason today, his eyelids felt especially heavy. Won-hyeok, staring up at the stark white ceiling after waking, ground out a low curse under his breath. They said you knew your own body best. The faint heat he could feel and the heaviness weighing down his body. Won-hyeok roughly grabbed the desk calendar beside the bed and checked the date.
Seeing the sticker attached to this Friday, he let out a short sigh. Before his rut came, he always made an effort to keep track of it in his own way, but lately he hadn’t been able to.
What was the reason for that?
“Hello, sunbae.”
Ironically, the face that followed that question was Han-gyeom’s. Feeling deeply irritated by himself for that, Won-hyeok furrowed his brow and slammed the calendar back down. Then he headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Both alphas and omegas had one thing in common: a mating cycle. For alphas, it was called a rut cycle; for omegas, a heat cycle. They’d given them fancy names, but really, it wasn’t anything special. It was just a period when they went into heat like animals—an alpha’s lower half swelling up, an omega getting wet in the back, well, that kind of thing.
Among alphas, Won-hyeok was a dominant alpha, one of only a handful in existence, and a trait some people considered exceptionally superior.
Dominant alphas, by nature, tended to suffer through rut severely. He had heard until his ears practically callused over, ever since he was young, that it was because the human instinct to pass down superior traits through the generations asserted itself strongly in them—but honestly, his feeling on that was more like, who the fuck cares.
“Fuck, my head.”
Because when the period right before rut approached, his condition became a total mess. Won-hyeok in particular was constitutionally very unstable during rut. Even his pheromones, which he always kept under strict control, could leak out at any time during this period, so he had to take stabilizers every day.
After getting ready to go to school, Won-hyeok went into the kitchen and, as usual, took out a stabilizer and swallowed it. Then, just in case, he pulled out a long case from the drawer where he kept his medicine and checked inside. Thankfully, he still had the suppressant he needed to use when rut hit.
“What a pain. I don’t want to go get another prescription.”
Won-hyeok snapped irritably and shoved the drawer shut. These days, medication and medicine related to secondary traits had advanced a lot, so even suppressants that stabilized the body during mating cycles were easy to get, almost like over-the-counter medicine.
But Won-hyeok’s case was a little different. He was a dominant alpha, and his mating cycle was notoriously unstable, so the only thing that worked for him was a specialized injectable suppressant prescribed through consultation with a doctor. Even the suppressant he was using now had been prescribed only after trying all sorts of others and finding the one that fit his body best, but honestly, unlike other people, it still didn’t suppress his mating cycle perfectly.
That was why, when the day of rut came, Won-hyeok stayed holed up at home and didn’t go anywhere until it was over. If he accidentally laid a hand on some unrelated omega, it’d become a headache.
Because other people’s pheromones also felt sharper and more sensitive when rut was close, before leaving, Won-hyeok made sure not to forget his mask and hat. Then he happened to notice the assignment materials lying on the living room table. They were materials he had dragged himself to his family home to retrieve last weekend, all to keep his promise with Han-gyeom.
“……”
Even though he was the one who had brought them himself, a crack formed between Won-hyeok’s brows as he looked down at the materials. ‘The considerate sunbae who takes good care of his juniors’ was also one of the roles Won-hyeok had been performing all this time. But personally helping someone one-on-one with assignments and taking care of them like this had never been part of that category. He had never looked after any junior like that before.
Then why had he said he’d do this much for that loser? Won-hyeok let out a deep sigh and stuffed the materials into his bag. Still, well, a promise was a promise.
“Thank you so much, sunbae. I’m really happy.”
Just as expected, when Won-hyeok handed over the materials, Han-gyeom split his red lips into a bright, innocent smile. All he’d done was hand over some papers, but because of that expression, it almost felt as though what he was holding out wasn’t a stack of paper scraps but a bundle of cash.
Annoyed by the way Han-gyeom’s big eyes kept darting around as if trying to examine the complexion beneath his hat, Won-hyeok brushed it off with some vague excuse about feeling like he might be coming down with something, then left.
The closer rut day got, the worse his condition became. He wanted to shove away everyone around him—classmates, sunbae, juniors, all of them. He even had the urge to smack the back of the heads of the bastards faintly giving off pheromones.
Afraid his real personality might slip out without him realizing, Won-hyeok headed straight home the moment class ended, avoiding sticking around with anyone as much as possible, practically fleeing.
“Ah, fuck……”
And then, the day of rut.
Won-hyeok couldn’t get out of bed. Even though he had woken up in the morning and injected the suppressant, for some reason it wasn’t settling things down.
His body temperature rose, and his breathing grew a little ragged. He had definitely taken the suppressant, yet this was the first time his condition had failed to improve this badly. It was obvious his unstable constitution was acting up again.
In the end, it wasn’t until he saw that his lower half had swollen halfway that Won-hyeok started rummaging through the drawer to inject more suppressant. But the one he had taken that morning had been the last one. He had kept putting off getting another prescription because it was such a hassle—who would’ve thought that would come back to bite him like this.
“Nothing ever fucking works out. So irritating……”
Won-hyeok clutched at his throbbing head and collapsed onto the sofa. His mind was hazy, like he had taken sleeping pills. Cold sweat streamed down him, and his whole body itched. This rut seemed to have hit him especially hard. If it went on like this, he would definitely suffer the entire rut, so he needed to go to the hospital and get treatment—but he was in no condition whatsoever to make it all the way there.
He even considered calling an ambulance, but a wave of irritation rose at the sight of himself rendered helpless by nothing more than a mating cycle, and he simply shut the thought down and closed his eyes.
“……”
How much time had passed like that?
Ding-dong—
A cheerful doorbell rang through the apartment. At first, Won-hyeok ignored it. But when it rang once, and then twice more, his eyes opened on their own whether he wanted them to or not.
“Fuck, it’s echoing in my skull…… who the hell is it? Maybe I should crush their fingers.”
Won-hyeok got up, rubbing his face dryly with both hands. Maybe because he’d been half-asleep when he woke, his head was such a mess he couldn’t even tell whether this was a dream or reality.
With barely any reason left in him, Won-hyeok yanked open the front door without even checking the intercom screen.
***
Right now, Han-gyeom was at a complete loss over something he had done on sheer impulse. Of course, the problem—if there was one—was that he had only realized that after already arriving in front of Won-hyeok’s officetel. He had even run here without thinking, so he was drenched in sweat.
“Should I go in?”
He had come because he was worried Won-hyeok might be suffering alone while sick, but what if he only ended up disturbing him while he was resting? Or maybe Won-hyeok had already recovered enough that he didn’t need anyone’s care or help.
After agonizing over it, Han-gyeom finally clenched both fists tight. Right—today, he had only come to return what he had borrowed. And while he was at it, he’d check whether sunbae was okay. Even after coming to that conclusion, Han-gyeom had no choice but to stop in front of the building’s shared entrance.
He couldn’t quite remember Won-hyeok’s unit number and was panicking when, luckily, another resident came out, and before he knew it, he slipped through the gap in the open door. Once safely inside, he searched by tracing the location of Won-hyeok’s place from memory and rang the bell.
Maybe because he was unconsciously nervous, sweat kept dripping down, forcing him to wipe it away. In the process, the hair that had been covering his face became messily disheveled. Before he could even fix it, the door suddenly swung open.
“Uh……”
Won-hyeok came out in comfortable clothes. Unlike usual, the lips that were always curved in a smile were drawn flat, and his eyes looked dark and lifeless.
“Su-sunbae. Um, I……”
He was about to explain why he’d come when Won-hyeok suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him inside. Before Han-gyeom could even react, the sound of the door lock clicking shut rang out, and in an instant, everything around them went quiet.
“……What are you here for?”
Won-hyeok let out a long, deep sigh and rubbed his face dryly. His voice sounded extremely exhausted. Maybe because Han-gyeom had only ever seen him neat and composed, this side of Won-hyeok felt undeniably unfamiliar.
“Ah, I came to return what I bo-borrowed before.”
Han-gyeom fumbled around in his bag, pulled out the laptop and the materials, and set them on the table. Won-hyeok stared blankly at the items.
“You could’ve given them back later.”
“Thanks to you, I finished the assignment well, and the laptop is expensive, so I thought it’d be better to return it quickly.”
“Yeah, thanks. For coming all the way here.”
His tone was a little sharp. Han-gyeom looked Won-hyeok over carefully. His complexion definitely wasn’t good. On top of that, his breathing looked rough and labored, as if even that took effort. It was obvious he still wasn’t feeling well.
“If you don’t have anything else to say, can you leave now?”
“Um… sunbae. Are you very sick?”
“……Go, Han-gyeom.”
Ack—suddenly, pain shot through his shoulder. Won-hyeok had grabbed Han-gyeom’s shoulder hard. Just like his heavy voice telling him to go, his grip was strong enough to hurt. But in Han-gyeom’s eyes, all he could focus on was Won-hyeok, who looked even more miserable than that.
“Sunbae, if there’s anything I can help with, I’ll help you. I’m good at taking care of people, and also……”
“Why would you?”
“Huh?”
“What the hell do you think you know, saying you’ll take care of me?”
Han-gyeom’s eyes widened. For a moment, he thought that couldn’t possibly be Won-hyeok’s voice. Even the look on his face as he stared at him now was a little chilling, like he was looking at a completely different person.
“You’ve given me a lot, sunbae, and helped me a lot too, so I wanted to re-repay you somehow……”
He had only been worried because Won-hyeok was sick, but had he maybe just come across as extremely bothersome? Well, considering they weren’t even that close, if some junior suddenly showed up at his house talking about taking care of him, even he would probably find that burdensome.
Thinking he had made a mistake, Han-gyeom lowered his head out of habit and fidgeted with his fingers. Maybe because he was flustered, his cheeks and earlobes—already flushed red from running here—turned even redder, like apples. Maybe because the distance between them wasn’t that great, a soft soap scent drifted from his glossy hair.
Won-hyeok’s unfocused eyes took in that sight with unnerving persistence.
“You… do you happen to wear perfume?”
“Huh? Ah, no. I don’t wear anything.”
Won-hyeok’s eyes, sweeping over Han-gyeom’s face, turned instinctively dark and predatory. They were the eyes of a beast staring down prey right in front of it.
“You said you wanted to repay me……. Fine, then.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take that repayment.”
Han-gyeom’s face lit up all at once. But only for a moment—because then, without warning, Won-hyeok grabbed Han-gyeom’s hand and brought it between his legs.
“Gah, sunbae……?”
“Have you ever jerked someone off? I think I need to come at least once right now to calm down.”
“Uh…… what?”
The naked word bursting from Won-hyeok’s mouth shocked him, but only for a second. The next moment, Han-gyeom was thrown onto the sofa by the strong force yanking at his hand.
