Faintly, the sound of voices reached his ears. Amid the murmuring noise, words like “blood pressure” and “hemorrhage” surfaced intermittently.
Yu-jin felt as though his entire body was trembling, shaken by something unseen, yet he couldn’t grasp what it was. A vague sense of déjà vu washed over him. Yes, this had happened before. But when?
A scream—his own—seemed to echo in his ears. A voice, drenched in despair, calling Winston’s name like a madman.
What do I do, what do I do… Winston, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry…
He had sobbed, repeating the same words over and over again. And what had Winston said to him in return?
“Are you hurt?”
With a hand slick with blood, Winston had reached up to caress Yu-jin’s cheek and asked,
“You’re not hurt, are you, love?”
He had spoken in ragged breaths before his brow furrowed. His hand, trembling and insistent, had roamed over Yu-jin’s cheek, his neck, searching—until Winston muttered in confusion.
“Why… why won’t the blood come off? Love, where are you hurt?”
You idiot, this is your blood…!!
Yu-jin, who had been hiccuping through his sobs, finally broke into a full-throated wail.
Ah, is that so.
Only then had Winston smiled.
“Good… I’m glad. As long as you’re not hurt.”
“Open your eyes, Winston! Stay with me!”
Yu-jin had shouted desperately, but Winston’s eyelids had continued to droop. Until at last, he could no longer respond. Limply collapsed against Yu-jin, his body had lost all strength, and all Yu-jin could do was weep over him.
Please. If God truly exists…
He had prayed with every fiber of his being.
Please, save Winston. Take anything you want—take everything. Even my life, if that’s what it takes. Just, please…!
Don’t take Winston away from me…!!
And his wish had been granted.
God had saved Winston.
And taken Yu-jin’s life instead.
Because from that day forward, Winston had completely left him behind.
Tears welled between Yu-jin’s closed eyelids.
Winston… what should I have done?
Regret—long overdue—rose like a tide in his mind.
If I was going to lose you anyway, should I never have prayed for your life?
I never regretted it. Not even once.
Because I was just relieved that you were alive.
Was it only because I thought I’d never see you again that I was able to feel that way?
If I had known we’d meet again like this—if I had known I would have to bear all your hatred and resentment at once—would I have regretted wishing for your life?
“You slept with my father!”
A voice like a blade, tearing through the air, raw and guttural as though he were coughing up blood.
The last thing Yu-jin saw before losing consciousness completely—those golden eyes, burning with rage, locked onto him.
***
With a sudden bang!, the door slammed open.
Startled, the butler whipped around.
The man who had thrown open the hospital room door was pale, his face drained of color. He had clearly been running—his shoulders rose and fell with each labored breath.
“Mr. Campbell.”
As the butler murmured a brief acknowledgment and stepped aside, Winston immediately strode into the hospital room.
“Mr. Campbell!”
The moment he staggered violently, not only the guards but even the usually taciturn butler cried out in alarm, rushing toward him. Winston barely managed to avoid collapsing outright, bending forward as he gasped for breath.
“I’m fine.”
His voice, squeezed out with difficulty, sounded wretched. He took his time straightening up, but even as he moved toward the bed, every step seemed to take a tremendous effort. His body still refused to cooperate, sluggish under the lingering effects of the drugs. The residual medication in his bloodstream, combined with the turbulent surge of pheromones, made it agonizing just to hold on to his sanity.
Finally reaching the bedside, Winston let out a long, deep breath only after confirming that Yu-jin was sleeping peacefully. The butler, who had been watching him closely, spoke up at the right moment.
“Fortunately, he was found in time, so there’s no need for major concern. The bleeding wasn’t severe, and they suggested he stay hospitalized for just a day or two before being discharged.”
“…A day or two?”
For the first time, Winston turned his gaze to the butler, his expression darkening with displeasure. The butler answered calmly.
“They said he should be able to move… Would you like to extend his stay?”
Winston remained silent for a moment.
Looking at Yu-jin’s pale face, he felt like the man should be bedridden for at least a year. But keeping him in the hospital didn’t sit well with him either. If it were up to Yu-jin, he would insist on returning to the estate immediately because of Angela. Would he be able to stop him?
Deep in thought, Winston finally spoke.
“What happened to Charlotte?”
Under normal circumstances, she would have been turned over to the police. But this wasn’t a normal situation—the incident had occurred within the Campbell estate, and it had been committed by a member of the Campbell family.
Still struggling for breath, Winston leaned his weight onto the side rail of the hospital bed as the butler answered.
“The eldest young master took her.”
As expected.
Charlotte must have known this would happen. She must have believed, one way or another, that the family would protect her. After all, her target was Harold’s lover—the man the entire family despised.
She might have even been scolded for failing to kill him.
The thought made something curdle inside Winston—a mix of scorn, irritation, and fury, all tangled into an unbearable mess. The unfinished pheromone suppression only worsened his already foul mood.
“Did she say why she did it?”
“No. However, when we found her, she was mumbling something. She kept saying, ‘It’s your fault. Why did you tell me? I’m sorry. I had no choice if I wanted to keep it a secret…’”
“A secret?”
Winston frowned instinctively.
Had Yu-jin been close enough to Charlotte to know any of her secrets? It was unlikely that she had confessed something herself.
But if Yu-jin had heard something elsewhere…
What kind of secret could be so monumental that Charlotte would go this far to keep it?
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, Winston couldn’t begin to guess.
First, he had to wait for Yu-jin to wake up. That was the most important thing—to confirm whether this was truly, as the doctor had claimed, just a minor incident. Only after that would he decide on how to deal with it.
After all, who could possibly lay hands on Winston Campbell’s partner and think they’d get away unscathed?
At that thought, Winston suddenly felt a strange sensation. He had, without hesitation, referred to Yu-jin as his partner.
No, that wasn’t right.
Yu-jin was nothing more than a concubine. Once their contract was up, he would divorce Yu-jin and marry a woman more suitable for the Campbell family.
Yu-jin would be locked away in the old annex where he used to live. Hidden from the world, where no one could ever see him—and where he could never escape.
Because he’s mine.
If only he had done that from the start, none of this would’ve happened.
As Winston chewed over this belated regret, the butler hesitantly spoke.
“Um, also… The doctor says he has something important to discuss. Shall I bring him in now?”
Winston’s heart seemed to plummet in an instant.
They said it was just a day or two—then why?
Had something else gone wrong with Yu-jin? Was there some larger issue hiding beneath it all?
Why now?
Dozens of thoughts raced through his mind, yet none offered an answer.
A splitting headache suddenly overtook him, and Winston collapsed into the nearest seat.
“Mr. Campbell!”
“I’m fine.”
He responded to the butler’s voice through clenched teeth.
“It’s just… the drugs haven’t fully worn off yet. Tell the doctor I’ll see him now. I’m fine.”
The butler hesitated, clearly unconvinced, but disobeying a direct order wasn’t an option. Reluctantly, he left the room—leaving Winston and Yu-jin alone.
…So dizzy.
A wave of nausea rolled over him, and he fought to suppress it. The injection site throbbed, a sharp ache blooming under the skin, but that was just one of many problems he was facing—and far from the worst.
My heart.
One hand gripping the bed rail, he clutched his chest with the other.
It feels like it’s going to burst.
A pained groan escaped Winston’s lips.
Was this a side effect of the drugs?
Or had his pheromones finally started devouring him from the inside out?
It’s fine. I don’t care.
A dim memory rose in his mind. Since that day, he hadn’t truly been alive, not for a single moment.
He had dragged himself forward with a heart torn to shreds. That should have been enough.
No. Not at all.
His bloodshot eyes glared into the empty air.
He had only just made it this far.
He had finally, finally gotten him back.
And now he was supposed to lose him again?
That will never happen.
Winston repeated the thought as he forced himself upright.
Even the simple act of sitting down took every ounce of strength he had left.
With a heavy exhale, he turned his gaze.
Yu-jin’s sleeping face entered his vision, serene and unguarded.
If I were the protagonist of some fairy tale, I’d probably kiss you right now.
And then the two would fall in love and live happily ever after.
In that story, there would be no betrayal, no resentment.
Winnie.
Maybe it was the aftereffects of the drug.
Winston began to blur the line between past and present.
And his memory—tragically—returned to that day.
The day when every nightmare began.
