56
I was on my way to English class. Just as I came out of the alleyway onto the main road, my body started heating up. Sweat pooled in my palms and a chill ran down my back. My vision blurred, and I hunched over with a groan.
“D-Driver Lee.”
“Yes, young mas— Young Master?”
“Driver Lee. I need to go… I need to go home.”
Lee Gyeongjin glanced back at me and quickly turned the steering wheel. He hurriedly found a spot to make a U-turn and returned to the front of the house. Getting out, he opened the car door and checked my condition.
“Young Master, are you alright? Young Master!”
“English class… can’t go. Please contact them, Driver Lee. I need to go home.”
I could guess the reason for my sudden deteriorating condition. This was my second heat, so it wasn’t as alarming as the first, but it still wasn’t something I was used to.
“We’re in front of the house. I’ll contact your teacher.”
As I barely managed to speak between gasps, he nodded and helped pull me out from the back seat. I could still walk, but my legs kept giving out, threatening to make me collapse. Eventually, Lee Gyeongjin, unable to bear watching me struggle, lifted my limp body into his arms.
“It’s me. The Young Master’s condition suddenly worsened. Please open the door quickly.”
After explaining the situation through the intercom, Lee Gyeongjin rushed through the opened gate and rapidly climbed the stairs, entering the house building in an instant.
“Take him to the second floor bedroom.”
“Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”
“It’s because of his pheromones. I’ll bring suppressants, so lay him on the bed and wait.”
I was moved to the bed like a patient, and soon Director Cha brought suppressants and placed them in my mouth.
“Young Master, it’s okay. Swallow slowly with water. Slowly.”
Director Cha gently stroked my back while raising me slightly to help me swallow the medicine with water.
“Well done. You must be uncomfortable, should we take off your outer clothes before you lie down?”
After removing my coat and setting it aside, Director Cha stood up and turned to Lee Gyeongjin.
“He suddenly felt unwell after leaving the house, right?”
“Yes, around the time we reached the main road.”
“I’ll be canceling the Young Master’s schedule for the next three or four days. Please be aware of this, Driver Lee.”
“Then I’ll go out and contact everyone about the postponed schedule.”
“Yes, and please wait outside the door just in case. Don’t enter the room.”
“Understood.”
After Lee Gyeongjin left, Director Cha sat lightly on the bed. She brushed my sweat-soaked hair back and clicked her tongue softly.
“Young Master, please wait a moment.”
I responded with a groan to her faintly echoing voice.
My pheromones were going wild. My entire body itched and tingled as if insects were crawling all over me. I wanted to dig in with my nails and scratch hard. I wondered if the medicine would take effect immediately, as I didn’t feel any particular calming or change yet.
I gasped for breath with parted lips, like someone being strangled. My throat was swollen, making it difficult to breathe, similar to an allergic reaction.
“Young Master, it’s okay. Your body hurts a lot, doesn’t it? Try taking deep breaths in and out.”
Director Cha gently whispered while wiping my face, which was drenched in cold sweat, with a dampened cloth. For some reason, her voice ringing in my ears made me tearful. They say people get emotional when they’re sick, and that’s exactly what was happening now.
“You just need to endure a little longer. It will calm down soon if you wait a bit. Can you bear it?”
In my current state, even one minute was difficult to endure. I knew what I wanted, but there was no one to give it to me. I twisted my body, craving an Alpha’s pheromones, and each time I did, Director Cha firmly held me down on the bed.
“It’s okay. You’ll be fine soon. Our good Young Master, you shouldn’t be in pain, you need to get better quickly.”
“Hngh… uh…”
“Yes, you can cry. It’s not shameful. I know it’s very painful.”
Director Cha continuously whispered in my ear while stroking my hair with hands full of sympathy, as if letting me know I wasn’t alone. I was grateful for that kindness, though it also made me sad. I clung to her hand and shed tears intermittently.
Pheromones I usually couldn’t detect were attacking me from all directions simultaneously. The closest was my second brother’s pheromones, then my oldest brother’s from the opposite end of the building, and my Alpha father’s from the floor below. I could even faintly detect my sister-in-law’s and Omega father’s pheromones.
The mixed smell of all these pheromones made me nauseated rather than comforted. Do Alphas and Omegas always smell these scents? I thought it might be better not to detect pheromones at all.
“I feel… like throwing up. Ugh, my stomach feels strange.”
“It’s okay if you throw up. Don’t try to suppress or hold it in. That will only make you feel worse. Just relax your body and let it happen naturally.”
Director Cha pushed my body to curl up on my side and patted my back. My shirt, soaked with sweat, stuck uncomfortably to my back.
After spending a considerable amount of time like that, the pain gnawing at my body gradually faded. My body felt heavy and languid, and now my joints felt like they were melting as my strength drained away.
“Director Cha…”
“Yes, Young Master. I’m here. Don’t worry.”
“My body… feels strange. …I have no strength at all.”
“The medicine seems to be taking effect. There’s nothing to worry about, so rest comfortably. You can sleep if you feel drowsy.”
I wasn’t sleepy. However, my body felt heavy like water-soaked cotton, and my mind was hazy, making me feel terribly unpleasant. Having my body and mind not obey my will was more disagreeable than I had imagined.
“I don’t want to sleep.”
“That’s fine. Do as you wish, Young Master. I’ll stay by your side.”
The pain that had been eating at my skin was gone, but instead, my joints ached. My stomach was also churning as if I’d taken strong medicine on an empty stomach. Eventually, I vomited what came up sourly from the back of my throat.
“You’re feeling sick. It’s okay.”
Without the slightest hint of irritation, she wiped my mouth with a towel and cleaned up the vomit that had dirtied the bed. This only made me feel more pitiful. As I sobbed with faint cries, Director Cha continued to whisper in my ear, “It’s okay, Young Master. It’s okay.”
“Why… I took the medicine, so why…”
Weren’t suppressants supposed to make me feel better? Why does my body still hurt even after taking medicine? Although it wasn’t Director Cha’s fault, I felt resentful.
“It’s because it’s the first day. Your pheromones are raging and conflicting with the medicine, making your body struggle. It will get a bit easier tomorrow.”
I have to endure this until tomorrow? That was like a bolt from the blue. I couldn’t understand how taking suppressants and enduring this pain was better than rolling around with an Alpha like a beast without reason.
“I’ll bring you some water. Please wait a moment.”
Director Cha whispered in a low, quiet voice like a lullaby before leaving the room. Left alone on the bed, I twisted my body helplessly. It would be better if I could just fall asleep, but I felt afraid that if I closed my eyes, I would be thrown into an unknown darkness.
I reached out for my phone. Taking out the phone I had kept in my pocket, I painfully called Kwon Yikang. The time it took for the call to connect felt exceptionally long.
“Hello.”
“I… it’s started, my heat. I took medicine, but my body hurts so much.”
As I made whimpering sounds like a spoiled child, a suppressed groan burst from the other end of the phone.
“Where are you now?”
“Home. I’m in pain, okay?”
“There’s no Alpha near you, is there?”
“I don’t know. I took medicine but it still hurts. My body feels strange.”
I’m in pain. I’m hurting, so say something sweet to me.
I wish I could sense pheromones through the phone. I needed Kwon Yikang’s sweet scent. I took a deep breath, but the mixed pheromones jabbed at my nose, almost numbing it.
“Can you come to my apartment? Should I pick you up?”
“Driver Lee… is outside.”
“Then ask him to take you to my apartment. I’ll leave now too.”
“I have no strength at all.”
I’m heavy and lethargic. As I spoke between sobs, he called my name, “Sukyung.”
“It’s okay. You’ll be fine soon.”
“Are you coming now?”
“Yes.”
“Will you hold me?”
“…Yes.”
“You need to come quickly.”
Kwon Yikang answered with “yes” to all my insistent demands. With just my phone in hand, I struggled to get up from the bed. Director Cha, who was just entering the room with a glass of water, approached me in surprise.
“Young Master, why are you getting up?”
“I… want to go.”
“Where? Lie down. You need to rest.”
“No, I want to go. …Let me go.”
Though I was limping from lack of strength, I stubbornly took steps toward the door. Supporting me, Director Cha sighed.
“At least tell me where you want to go. Hmm? It’s dangerous to go outside.”
“I want to go to Kwon Yikang. Driver Lee, please take me there.”
Lee Gyeongjin, who was sitting on the living room sofa, approached and gave Director Cha a questioning look.
“You keep insisting on going to see someone.”
“Driver Lee, you remember Kwon Yikang’s… apartment, right? Take me there. Please?”
Lee Gyeongjin let out a short groan and whispered something to Director Cha. After a moment, Director Cha nodded.
“Take good care of the Young Master, and don’t leave him alone until you arrive. Don’t stop anywhere else. Make sure you see him meet that person before you leave. Do you understand, Driver Lee?”
“Yes.”
“Take him carefully.”
Director Cha followed us to the front of the house, helped me lie down in the back seat, and closed the door. I could feel her watching until the car departed. I realized that Director Cha, who always appeared so precise and measured, also had a caring side.
“Please bear with it a little longer. I’ll get there as quickly as possible.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
