And that evening.
I caught a cold.
“Snff….”
Considering how confidently I had declared I’d be fine, this was a pretty pathetic ending.
Earlier, my nose had been running nonstop. Now it wasn’t running at all—it just felt completely blocked inside. I couldn’t breathe properly, and it was incredibly frustrating.
After blowing my nose for quite a while, I heard the hotel room door open. Not long after, Do Jihoon walked inside. In his hand was a packet of cold medicine.
“Here, Yuriya.”
Do Jihoon handed me the medicine. I swallowed the pills with water. When I glanced at his face, it was filled with worry.
“Don’t worry so much, Dojiya. I’ll be better by tomorrow! Colds come and go. They’re here one moment and gone the next.”
“Stop talking bullshit and go to sleep.”
He snapped coldly.
“…Okay.”
“Take better care of your health, Yuriya. I’m worried.”
“Alright. Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time. But seriously, I think I’ll feel better tomorrow.”
Do Jihoon didn’t even pretend to listen to my defense.
I rolled toward the edge of the bed. I couldn’t risk giving my cold to Do Jihoon. I planned to sleep at opposite ends of the bed tonight.
“You’re going to fall off the bed like that. Come over here.”
But Do Jihoon grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Completely unaware of my noble intention not to infect him with my cold. I rolled right back into his arms.
“If you catch my cold tomorrow, don’t blame me.”
“It’s fine.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Alright. Be quiet and go to sleep, Yuriya.”
Do Jihoon gently released his pheromones and patted my back. His pheromones were warm, wrapping my chilled body in comforting heat.
And just like that, cradled in Do Jihoon’s arms, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
***
Hot. It’s hot.
“……”
It felt like I was trapped inside a steaming pot. The heat was unbearable, like I might suffocate.
I opened my eyes.
Looking around, Do Jihoon wasn’t there. It seemed like he’d gone out for exercise or something.
I tried to get up from the bed, but my body felt heavy. The cold chills from yesterday were gone—now my body was burning with heat. A tingling warmth spread from the back of my neck down to my lower abdomen.
I was thirsty, but the refrigerator felt ridiculously far away. With a body that felt like a waterlogged sponge, I couldn’t walk that far.
Looks like I’m really sick.
I should’ve just worn the cardigan like Do Jihoon suggested. Instead I had to act tough for no reason.
We came here on a trip, and this is what happens. We only got to enjoy one proper day, and now this. Guilt toward Do Jihoon bubbled up.
“I should just sleep more…”
Even my voice sounded awful. It came out like the grating sound of fingernails scratching a chalkboard.
I turned my head this way and that. My vision swayed like I was drunk.
“I’m screwed…”
I collapsed back onto the bed.
The heat had already driven me to kick the blanket far away. I felt like a pig roasting inside a steamer. Sweat poured down my entire body like someone stranded in the middle of a desert.
Eventually, I ripped off my shirt. If possible, I wanted to press ice directly against my skin.
Right when I was writhing on the bed in misery—
“……”
I heard the door open.
When I glanced toward it, Do Jihoon was standing there.
The moment he saw the state I was in, the bag he was holding slipped from his hand. A container of porridge rolled out of it and across the floor.
“Hey. I don’t think this is a cold.”
Probably the flu or something. I tried to say it, but my throat was so hoarse the words wouldn’t come out.
Do Jihoon covered his mouth with his sleeve. His face was tightly contorted.
Letting out a sigh, Do Jihoon released his pheromones. They wrapped around my body gently, almost as if coaxing it.
Strangely enough, as soon as I was exposed to his pheromones, the body that had felt like it’d been beaten all over began gradually feeling better.
After a short while, I was even able to sit up on the bed.
I leaned against the headboard and looked at him with confusion. From the way he immediately released his pheromones upon seeing me, it seemed like Do Jihoon already knew something.
“Yuriya.”
He ran a hand over his face and spoke.
“Have you been taking your suppressants properly?”
What was he suddenly talking about? Do Jihoon spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I looked at him and nodded confidently.
Then suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
Fuck. Wait… don’t tell me—
“You did take them, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Yuriya. You know this too, but…”
I cut him off before he could finish.
“It’s heat. Damn it.”
Even as I said it, my head filled with questions. I’d taken my suppressants diligently during every heat cycle. If I hadn’t taken them, at least it wouldn’t feel so unfair. But I had absolutely no idea why a sudden heat had triggered like this.
Do Jihoon inhaled and exhaled heavily. With omega pheromones filling the entire room, he looked like he was having a hard time.
“…Dojiya. For now, you should go outside.”
“You said go outside.”
Do Jihoon muttered in a strained voice.
“Yeah. Sorry—we came all this way to have fun. And I can’t exactly go to a hospital like this. It’s not serious enough to call an ambulance, so don’t worry.”
“……”
“I’ll just take some painkillers and endure it. Just sleep in another room for two days.”
Do Jihoon ran a hand through his hair and let out a short laugh.
For some reason, he seemed angry. His pheromones suddenly flared violently.
Without hiding his agitation, Do Jihoon spoke firmly.
“Yuriya. Please think about yourself first. Right now, you need alpha pheromones.”
“……”
“I’m staying beside you. I’m not going to another room.”
Do Jihoon smiled and brushed my hair.
I swallowed dryly.
Maybe because I was surrounded by alpha pheromones, my body didn’t hurt as intensely anymore.
But another problem appeared.
My mind was becoming increasingly hazy.
It felt like a red filter had been placed over my vision. Do Jihoon’s face—which was already handsome—now looked several times more beautiful and striking.
My soft, foggy brain couldn’t restrain the surging urges inside me. Before I knew it, I had reached out and placed my hand on Do Jihoon’s face.
“…Jihoon-ah. Your cheeks are really soft.”
“……”
When I closed my eyes, I could clearly feel his pheromones wavering.
My actions had provoked that change.
And strangely enough, I found that very satisfying.
Do Jihoon’s long, straight neck drifted into my blurred vision. The moment I looked at his neck, the memory of earlier that day—when I tried to touch him and he refused—suddenly surfaced.
“…! Yuriya!”
I jumped up and lunged at him.
Do Jihoon grabbed me as I nearly fell off the bed.
Now was the moment.
I wrapped both hands around his neck.
“Got you.”
I moved my thumb, stroking his Adam’s apple. The well-shaped bump moved up and down.
Then I slowly moved my index finger as well. The skin beneath my fingertips was warm and soft.
“…Yuriya.”
Do Jihoon called my name in a trembling voice. It sounded rough, like his vocal cords were being scraped from the inside.
He was definitely smiling.
But strangely, it gave me goosebumps.
It wasn’t fear.
My heart pounded awkwardly, like it was riding a roller coaster filled with pleasant tension.
“Yeah, Jihoon-ah. I feel really good right now.”
“……”
Something surged up inside my body.
In my hazy state, I tried to figure out what it was that I wanted.
The answer came quickly.
“Do Jihoon.”
“…What.”
He answered uneasily.
“Let’s sleep together.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down onto the bed.
Do Jihoon resisted briefly, but eventually he couldn’t overcome my weight and fell forward onto the bed.
I used my strength to flip our positions.
Before I knew it, Do Jihoon was trapped between my arms.
“…Yuriya. Move.”
Do Jihoon’s beautiful face was tightly furrowed.
Seeing him trapped between my arms like that, demanding that I move, made the heat in my body rise strangely.
“No.”
I lowered my head.
And my lips touched Do Jihoon’s.
Just as I was about to push my tongue between his lips—
Do Jihoon suddenly shoved me away roughly.
When I looked at him blankly, his face was twisted like that of a demon.
In his flickering eyes, I could read several emotions.
Instinctive desire. Anger. And fear.
Suddenly, Do Jihoon pulled me into a tight embrace.
I wanted to touch him, but I couldn’t move my body, which only made my irritation grow.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“I said let’s do it.”
“I said no.”
It was like a battle between an unstoppable spear and an impenetrable shield.
I glared up at him, sulking and breathing angrily.
Do Jihoon was practically a Buddha.
Omega pheromones were flooding the entire room, yet this bastard didn’t even let out a single heated breath. Did he have no sex drive, or was he just a eunuch?
“Yuriya. Put your lips in.”
His pheromones were calm, like the surface of a still lake.
Every part of him touching me felt hot. But his calm pheromones gradually began to soothe me.
“Yuriya. Open your mouth.”
He said it firmly.
For a moment, I wondered if Do Jihoon was about to kiss me.
I willingly opened my mouth.
