“Still, I guess I should be thankful. He seems like an extreme-dominant Alpha, so most Alphas wouldn’t dare approach recklessly.”
“That’s true.”
Yeon Yiseo gave an awkward smile and nodded. Just as he turned to return to his desk after exchanging a cheerful “Let’s hang in there today, too,” he spotted Ethan walking in this direction. Ethan stopped upon seeing Yeon Yiseo, then continued walking toward him.
“Hello, sir.”
Ethan stood before him, gazing down in silence. He tilted his head slightly and smiled with just the corner of his lips.
“I thought I caught a familiar pheromone.”
Ethan didn’t speak softly—there was no doubt Natalie had heard him, too. As Yeon Yiseo visibly tensed, Ethan raised a brow.
“You didn’t really think this kind of situation wouldn’t happen, did you…?”
With that, Ethan stopped speaking and just stared down at him. Yeon Yiseo briefly wondered if he ought to apologize, but he hadn’t actually done anything wrong—so apologizing would only make things worse. Tossing out some meaningless excuse to escape the situation wouldn’t help either.
Besides, to be precise, Ethan was his boss. That was the extent of their relationship. Explaining any further would be far too personal, way too private to spell out.
While he was still struggling to find the right words, Ethan turned and went into his office. Natalie raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word, simply resumed her work where she sat.
Amid the flood of work that kept piling up, a message came in from Seo Eunwoo. He suggested they meet briefly for dinner. Since Yeon Yiseo was feeling relatively good, there was no reason to refuse.
To avoid being late for the dinner, he hurried through his tasks—and thankfully, he managed to leave the office at a decent time. He even thought he might arrive before Eunwoo for once and quickened his pace.
That effort paid off—he got there five minutes early. The restaurant they’d picked was well-known in the area for its excellent food. Maybe because of that, even though it was past the usual dinner rush, the place was still packed.
He thought they might have to wait for a table, but once again, Eunwoo had arrived first and was waving him over.
“I’m always the one who’s late. How long have you been here?”
“Not that long. I went ahead and ordered, though.”
“That’s fine. I’ll eat anything.”
Since he’d always been the one getting treated to meals, Yeon Yiseo had decided to pay this time. Even if he didn’t have much money, he wasn’t the type to just keep accepting without giving back.
They started with the usual small talk—how have you been and so on—but once the food came out, Eunwoo’s tone shifted to something more serious.
“So, what really happened?”
Yeon Yiseo immediately knew he meant the incident where they got stuck in the elevator.
“Exactly what it sounds like. The elevator broke down, I got stuck, and when I got out, CEO Scott was there.”
“And nothing happened after that? Come on, you’ve got to tell me the rest.”
“…Why are you so sure there is a rest?”
Yeon Yiseo stabbed a piece of food with his fork and brought it to his mouth, completely unaware of what Eunwoo was about to say.
“Because if there wasn’t, there’d be no reason for Ethan’s pheromones to be all over you.”
“What—pfft, kghk—cough, cough!”
Yeon Yiseo was so shocked he choked. He coughed violently, tearing up, while Eunwoo handed him water with concern. It was painful enough to bring actual tears to his eyes, but that didn’t matter right now. He couldn’t just ignore what Eunwoo had said.
“Pheromone—his pheromone?!”
“You didn’t notice? Then again, if you had, you wouldn’t be sitting here so calmly.”
“Why would the CEO’s pheromone be—?”
“Hmm, wait a sec. That’s not just one scent I’m picking up.”
Eunwoo leaned in, scrunching his nose and sniffing at Yeon Yiseo before straightening up again.
“I really need to hear the full story. You okay now?”
Yeon Yiseo nodded and took a sip of water. This time, he had a question for Eunwoo.
“Seriously—are you sure it’s the CEO’s pheromone?”
“Yeah. He basically slathered it on you for all the world to see.”
Yeon Yiseo buried his face in both hands. What the hell is going on now? Come to think of it, Natalie had acted a little strange after Ethan returned to his office this morning. He’d brushed it off at the time, but this? This he hadn’t expected.
Thank god he’d stayed in the office all day. If he’d wandered around the building in that state, it would’ve been a disaster. No one would recognize it as Ethan’s pheromone, but he knew—and it made his skin crawl.
He felt like a utility pole being peed on by dogs. Alexander was one thing, but now Ethan too? One Alpha after another, practically marking territory all over him. At least with Alexander, it had been a problem he was trying to help fix. But what was Ethan even thinking? Yeon Yiseo couldn’t make sense of it at all.
“Alexander’s scent is strong enough that it looks like Ethan’s didn’t completely cover it.”
“Wait, isn’t pheromone marking something only Alphas can detect?”
“Yeah, usually. But I’m an extreme-dominant Alpha too, remember? Honestly, I’d rather not know. Life’s simpler that way.”
Eunwoo shook his head, visibly disgusted.
“Did Ethan get mad when you came back smelling like Alexander?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Well… ah. You really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
At Eunwoo’s sudden realization, Yeon Yiseo furrowed his brows. What didn’t he know?
“Alexander and Ethan—they’re half-brothers.”
“…What?”
Yeon Yiseo’s eyes went wide.
“You remember the storyline, right? Ethan always felt inferior to Alexander. At first, it was framed as resentment toward a perfect older brother. But then, in Sirius’s route, it was revealed—surprise!—they’re half-brothers. All that hostility? Actually a big old inferiority complex.”
“I thought you looked a lot like the CEO. Ah, I meant Ethan.”
“That’s the first time anyone’s said that to me.”
“Really? You look so similar. Maybe it’s just the hair color that throws people off?”
“Most people think that’s enough to tell us apart.”
He remembered that conversation he’d had with Alexander. What must he have thought after hearing me say that? If Yeon Yiseo had known back then, he never would’ve brought it up. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.
“…Would’ve been better if they were just full brothers.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? You want to hook up with one of them?”
“No! That’s not what I meant. Not at all. It’s just… if Ethan hates Alexander, and I come back from seeing Alexander, then he’s going to hate me too.”
“Hold on a sec.”
Eunwoo cut him off with a look that said he had questions.
“First off, why do you have to meet Alexander regularly? And second, why would Ethan automatically find out every time?”
“…Ah.”
Yeon Yiseo shut his mouth. Eunwoo didn’t know the full context—he was only guessing.
Yeon Yiseo gave him a quick rundown of the situation. When Eunwoo heard it, his jaw dropped.
“Holy crap. That’s insane. Well, I mean, yeah. Alexander would do that. Yeah… that tracks.”
He muttered to himself for a bit, nodding like he was making peace with it—then stared at Yeon Yiseo with wide, loaded eyes.
“Wait, seriously? You weren’t gonna tell me? That’s cold. Were you planning to hide it forever?”
“…Sorry.”
The sincere apology seemed to calm Eunwoo down. He shrugged.
“It’s fine. I know you’ve got that ‘deal with everything alone’ mindset. I’ll settle for you being honest now. But more than that…”
Eunwoo trailed off mid-sentence, and Yeon Yiseo couldn’t help asking what was wrong.
“I dunno. Just a thought. Like… maybe you were supposed to take my spot. Think about it—getting this tangled up with the characters? Doesn’t make any sense. Who gets caught up with their boss and their boss’s family like this?”
“Don’t say that. It’s a coincidence, I swear. Don’t jinx it. Words have power.”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. Yeon Yiseo blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the ridiculousness. It was nonsense. Utterly impossible.
“It’s not that far-fetched.”
Eunwoo went on.
“If it’s not true, no big deal. If it is… well, might be fun to experience. Who knows?”
“I don’t want to experience it, and it’s not like that. But even if—even if, by some absurd stretch, it were—those guys are way too much. I’d ruin my life just by getting involved. You know the story, don’t you?”
Just imagining it made his head hurt. Yeon Yiseo rested his forehead in his palm, elbow propped on the table, while Eunwoo lazily stirred his green grape ade with a straw.
Well, fair enough. If their positions were reversed, Yeon Yiseo probably would’ve reacted the same way. It’s always easier when it’s not your life on the line.
“Yeah, I get it. It’s a lot. Still, I dunno… could be kinda nice? It ends in a happy ending, right? Why are you so against it? Got nothing to lose.”
That was something only people with things to fall back on could say. Yeon Yiseo had nothing. If he lost, he wouldn’t just lose a hand—he’d lose everything. Life wasn’t a game. It was a struggle, and even when things were terrible, you still had to keep living.
Yeon Yiseo wasn’t willing to make a gamble that big.
