Thud—!
The metal floor lamp Ha-jin swung struck the back of Cheon Tae-seong’s head with a resounding crash.
“Hah, hah… S‑Sir.”
Cheon Tae-seong blinked, staggered, then tipped sideways, his head lolling as his body tilted. In that instant, Ha-jin forced his way out of the man’s arms. Still shaking with adrenaline, he lost his balance and tumbled backward off the bed, rolling headfirst onto the floor.
His heart hammered wildly, breath coming in ragged gasps he couldn’t control. Ha-jin hurled the metal stand from his hands as if in a seizure, then crawled across the floor, scrambling away from the bed.
He was rubbing his lips frantically, his whole body trembling, when—
“Uh… Ha‑jin…”
Cheon Tae-seong, who had been lying motionless on the bed, let out a low, rumbling breath and murmured. At the sight of his broad back twitching, Ha-jin screamed silently. A thin, vivid line of blood trickled down along Tae-seong’s pale neck.
Horrified, Ha-jin sprang up and threw open the door behind him, bolting down the hallway.
“…Lee Ha‑jin! You’re not coming back here?!”
Cheon Tae-seong’s voice boomed through the corridor. Startled, Ha-jin tripped over his own feet mid‑flight and crashed to the floor.
Bang—crash!
Pain exploded through his body as he was flung down, dragging him in an instant back to that cliff from that day.
I’m going to die.
It made no sense—this wasn’t a situation that warranted it—but irrational terror seized Ha-jin completely.
Because he’d escaped through the connecting door from the bedroom, he found himself on the opposite end from the front entrance. Ha-jin ran blindly through the house’s corridors, then yanked open the nearest door and dove inside.
If he’d come to his senses and fled straight for the front door, it would’ve been better. But he’d only focused on running as far away from Cheon Tae-seong as possible, and his steps had tangled. More than anything, Ha-jin couldn’t see straight anymore.
After locking the door behind him, mirrors and a shower booth finally came into view. Only then did he slump down, panting, forcing himself to breathe. As his head slowly cleared, he began to grasp the situation with cold clarity.
My phone… It’s gone.
Ha-jin patted himself down and let out a hollow groan. Kim Dae-hong’s absence was clearly the result of a direct order, but with no idea when he’d return, this was bad. Could he really hide like this and hold out until the rut passed?
“Ha‑jin— Lee Ha‑jin, where are you?”
As Cheon Tae-seong’s voice drew closer, Ha-jin clamped both hands over his mouth. His heart pounded like it was going to burst.
A kiss.
Was it because of the taste of blood still lingering on his lips? Even in the chaos, the sensation of flesh pressed against his mouth came back with unsettling clarity. His own lips were intact—so it must have been Tae-seong’s blood. He must’ve bitten him in panic.
Cheon Tae-seong, deep in rut, had pounced on him. He’d rubbed their lips together as if devouring an Omega releasing pheromones.
But why?
In the two years he’d known him, Cheon Tae-seong had never once shown any sign of arousal toward him. That was why Ha-jin had let his guard down so completely with this Alpha now stalking him in silence.
Cheon Tae-seong was an Alpha who felt nothing for him.
And beyond that, his behavior was utterly unlike the way other Alphas usually acted toward him. Looking at Tae-seong now, it was almost as if—
“…It’s like I’m the one releasing pheromones.”
Why had he lost his reason so completely?
Holding his breath, Ha-jin pressed his ear to the bathroom door. He couldn’t hear anything, but from the pressure of Tae-seong’s pheromones alone, he knew he was close.
“Lee Ha‑jin. Where are you?”
The voice, gentle enough to sound coaxing, was a lure meant to draw out prey.
“……”
And then—BANG! The bathroom door shook violently.
“Aah!”
Thrown backward by the impact, Ha-jin’s eyes flew open. With just one blow, the doorknob twisted into a grotesque angle. BANG! Tae-seong slammed into it again.
Crack—! The door warped uselessly along with the frame. After one heavy jolt, it was ripped clean off. Frozen in shock, Ha-jin screamed and staggered backward into the shower booth.
Sc‑scary…
Cold sweat poured off Ha-jin in torrents as Cheon Tae-seong advanced slowly toward him. His massive frame loomed like a canopy, swallowing Ha-jin’s crouched body in a pitch‑black shadow.
As Ha-jin continued backing away, it was as if something snapped—Tae-seong’s eyes flared red. At that moment, Ha-jin’s slipping hand struck the lever, and icy water cascaded down between them.
Shhhh—
Through the torrent of falling water, Tae-seong’s piercing gaze bored straight into Ha-jin.
“H‑hic… p‑please… Sir…”
Unable to tell whether it was water or pheromones soaking his body, Ha-jin’s mind went numb.
Above Ha-jin’s head, Tae-seong’s arms braced against the wall, thick veins bulging as if about to burst. Despite the cold water pouring down, the heat radiating from him made the shower booth stiflingly hot.
“Why are you running? What did I even do to you?”
The whisper sounded oddly anguished. Just then, Ha-jin thought Tae-seong’s gaze looked wet—maybe because of the water streaming down.
Cheon Tae-seong buried his face against Ha-jin’s chest. As if checking something, his ragged breaths pushed through the soaked fabric and pressed directly against Ha-jin’s skin. Each time he rubbed his nose against Ha-jin’s chest, his heart felt like it might explode.
Ha-jin couldn’t breathe properly; his chest throbbed painfully.
His legs…
The instant he thought I can’t hold on anymore, all strength drained from his trembling lower body.
“Hah!”
Water splashed heavily as his body slid down. Ha-jin squeezed his eyes shut. He felt his hips strike the hard, cold tile floor, followed by the loud crash of something collapsing.
The next thing should’ve been his head splitting open—but instead, strong hands caught him and pulled him in. His cheek brushed against scorching skin.
“……”
When he finally managed to open his eyes, what touched his cheek was Cheon Tae-seong’s palm. The water pounding down from above was like a deluge; Ha-jin rubbed his face repeatedly and struggled upright.
“…!”
Beneath his limp body, pink‑tinged water streamed across the floor.
When he lifted his head, he saw Cheon Tae-seong collapsed on the tiles, blood flowing from his head and mixing with the water as it was sucked down the drain.
“…H‑hh.”
No words would come out. Trembling, Ha-jin touched Tae-seong’s face, then looked around frantically. He barely managed to reach up and shut off the lever. Silence fell instantly. In the soaking stillness, suffocating pheromones wrapped around Ha-jin. His fingertips tingled violently.
“Sir, why is this… Please, wake up.”
Even as water dripped steadily from Ha-jin’s face onto Tae-seong’s, his closed eyes didn’t so much as flutter.
“H‑how… how do I…”
When Ha-jin hurriedly cradled the head resting on the floor, warm blood smeared thickly across his palm. The spreading red was the most vivid crimson he’d ever seen. Ha-jin whimpered soundlessly.
Tae-seong completely let go of consciousness as he felt Ha-jin’s hands touching him.
“Lee Ha‑jin—!”
It was by the narrowest margin. The warmth that brushed his fingertips vanished like a mirage. The sight of Ha-jin being dragged beneath blue water felt grotesquely unreal.
The body, light as a falling petal, was swallowed whole into the foaming depths.
“The waves were high and the underwater terrain is extremely rough. Recovering the body will be impossible. There’s a high probability it’s already been swept away by the current.”
“Find him. No matter what it takes, find him. I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”
“…From that height, no one could have survived, CEO.”
Kim Dae-hong, beaten until he was a bloody mess for defending Ha-jin’s supposed betrayal, had prattled on relentlessly. The voice of his loyal subordinate sounded like mockery now—if only you’d listened to me, it seemed to sneer.
Dumbfounded, Tae-seong collapsed to his knees atop the cliff. The wind brushing his cheek was cold.
I’ll never see him again?
The sense of loss was something Tae-seong had never experienced in his life—and it left him utterly at a loss. No one had ever taught him that something held in his hands could disappear so easily.
***
“A‑choo—!”
He clamped a hand over his nose too late. Inside the hospital room, everyone’s gaze snapped toward Ha-jin at once.
Ha-jin clenched his wet clothes tightly and darted his eyes around. With his front soaked in blood, he looked like the obvious assailant—and, well… he was. Even with ten mouths, he’d have nothing to say. He could only press his lips together.
But still…
Remembering the unjust kiss, Ha-jin dropped his head. His face burned bright red, like an overripe persimmon.
After smashing the CEO over the head and now standing stiffly at the foot of the bed like a malfunctioning traffic light—flushing red, then pale—there was no way this looked good. Kim Dae-hong glared daggers at him, but Song Jae-hyun cleared his throat and intervened.
“There’s no sign of internal bleeding or serious injury on the CT scan. We believe this is a temporary loss of consciousness due to a concussion or the rut. We’ll monitor him closely and run additional tests if needed… For now, we’ll let him rest and observe.”
Song Jae-hyun smiled brightly at Kim Dae-hong.
“Please don’t worry too much. Tae-seong’s extremely healthy. If anything, you’re the one we should be concerned about, Manager. You’ll need to change your clothes.”
“N‑no, I’m fine.”
Ha-jin stepped back, waving his hands. Even if he ignored Kim Dae-hong’s murderous stare, thinking back on the chaos made it feel like he was truly in deep trouble.
Hesitating, Ha-jin bowed deeply toward Kim Dae-hong and the secretaries.
“I’m sorry.”
“‘Sorry’?” This won’t end that simply, Manager.”
“Hey now, Dae-hong. That’s enough. We haven’t even heard Tae-seong’s side yet.”
As Ha-jin bowed, his gaze fell on his own feet. He wasn’t even wearing shoes—just soaked socks.
They had a big hole torn in them, probably from catching on something sharp. Looking at the socks, blackened with grime, tears suddenly welled up at the corners of his eyes.
