The laboratory in District 6 was enormous. Though technically private property, its original owner was long dead.
The facility itself was even larger than the vast stretch of land it sat on, nestled against a mountain. When a gate burst open underground, everything was torn apart and reduced to rubble. Monsters swarmed out, destroying nearly everything in sight—but miraculously, a few pieces of equipment survived, making investigation possible. It was sheer luck.
Teleportation-type Espers handled the disposal of the monster corpses. Since the bodies didn’t need to be transported intact, teleporters from across the country were summoned to haul them beyond the outer perimeter. Thanks to their efforts, cleanup wrapped up surprisingly quickly.
The moment the corpses were cleared, the investigation team moved in. Despite the devastation, they managed to recover a significant amount of data—strong enough evidence to confirm that District 6 had indeed been Molt’s domestic base. Among the files were the locations of hidden labs scattered across the other districts.
As soon as those coordinates were identified, the investigation teams launched raids on every single lab. But by the time they arrived, the culprits had already fled. All that remained were empty facilities, scrubbed clean of any trace.
In response, the government ramped up border control and deployed investigation squads nationwide. Since Espers capable of overseas teleportation were extremely rare, it was assumed that most fugitives were still within the country—and the search didn’t stop.
Kwon Hae-beom, in particular, was hunting them down like a man possessed. After seeing what had been done to the test subjects—slaughtered like animals in that lab prison—he seemed to snap.
Lee Tae-rim had described the cells as bare rooms with nothing but a bed, toilet, and sink, but seeing them in person was far more disturbing. The tiny solitary cells looked like actual prison blocks, and inside, test subjects lay dead, covered in blood. It was no wonder Kwon Hae-beom lost it.
While Lee Tae-rim had been held captive, Kwon Hae-beom had been assigned a new Guide—an A-rank who had just Awakened in District 7. The Matching Rate was 66%, and the Guide was only sixteen. They’d been transferred to District 1 and were currently undergoing training while Guiding only Kwon Hae-beom. Although clumsy, the kid was doing their best and slowly getting the hang of it.
For the most part, Kwon Hae-beom relied on the new Guide. But on days when his levels spiked, he still turned to Lee Tae-rim. Whether he was projecting someone else onto Tae-rim or simply holding back for other reasons, he no longer lashed out like before. Not that they’d made peace—but at least they were getting by.
Choi Jiwoon’s condition hadn’t improved. According to the doctors, it would be a miracle if he made it past three months. Still, Kwon Hae-beom continued visiting him whenever he had a free moment—and likely would until the very end.
As for Seon Juho, rumors about his Erasure-type ability had spread after what he’d done in District 6. Districts 3 and 4 had been desperately trying to recruit him. Though Seon Juho flatly refused, saying he wouldn’t go because Tae-rim was still struggling—which seemed to put District 1’s Center Director at ease—Districts 3 and 4 didn’t back off. They insisted that Seon Juho’s power was a national asset and demanded his cooperation.
His Incomplete Imprint still lingered, but thankfully, he hadn’t formed a mutual bond. Still, it was a disaster. He’d always known there was no real chance—but deep down, he’d hoped, just a little. Even if it was barely more than a speck of an ant’s tear, that tiny hope had to be wiped away.
Outwardly, nothing seemed to have changed between him and Tae-rim. But the way they looked at each other had shifted. Lee Tae-rim tried to hide it, making an effort to act the same as always. But Seon Juho didn’t even try—which made it impossible not to notice.
Even as he struggled with how to respond, Lee Tae-rim still accepted him—everything about him. Watching them, Jung Jae-heon felt a sudden, aching sadness. He found himself longing for someone, somewhere out there, he could call his own.
***
Once Lee Tae-rim came to his senses, he felt completely at a loss. What the hell have I done to a kid? The thought gnawed at him. But no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t resist Seon Juho’s pheromones.
After what had happened, Seon Juho had undergone a rapid transformation—he’d awakened fully as an Alpha. The sweet, innocent scent that had clung to him like a child was now maturing, ripening into something irresistibly alluring, just like a proper Alpha’s should.
But the bigger problem was that Seon Juho no longer even tried to hide his pheromones. At this point, it was too late to make a difference, but still—Tae-rim didn’t know what to do.
Not that it mattered much anymore. A far worse problem had taken over: Tae-rim couldn’t fall asleep without Seon Juho beside him.
Since returning to the Center, Seon Juho had gone right back to being his clingy, spoiled self—always sticking to Tae-rim like glue, pressing into his back at night, breathing in his pheromones. He was exactly the same as before, and it was driving Tae-rim nuts. Not just because of the clinginess—but because he seemed to be the only one freaking out about it.
“Juho.”
“Yeah?”
As usual, Seon Juho was latched onto his back, nose buried in his scent.
“Can you scoot over?”
“Nope.”
His actions hadn’t changed, but his pheromones had. The entire room was thick with the combined scent of both of them. Tae-rim was doing his best to ignore it, pretending not to notice. Which only made things more awkward.
Deep down, he already knew it was too late. He was just clinging to denial. Back in that place, he’d practically shoved his nose into Juho and breathed him in—there was no way Seon Juho hadn’t noticed. Tae-rim sighed. Goddamn cliché. Of course it came true. Just my luck.
If Seon Juho had really awakened as an Alpha, and went into rut because of it, how the hell was he supposed to explain that? There was no way to justify several days of heat-driven, animalistic behavior.
“Juho.”
“Yeah?”
“I need to talk to you. Can you move back a bit?”
“Don’t wanna…”
No matter how much he tried to deny it, Seon Juho was, without a doubt, an Alpha now. And he had a right to know what was happening to his body. Tae-rim sat up in bed. Juho did the same, clearly unhappy about being pushed away. Tae-rim reached over and turned on the bedside lamp.
He’d been telling himself to have this conversation every day—but somehow, it always became tomorrow’s problem. Not today. Today, he was going to do it. But now that the moment had come, he didn’t even know where to start.
As Juho leaned toward him again, Tae-rim gently pushed him away and fell into thought. Would he actually believe me if I said I got isekai’d into a book character?
“Hyung, why won’t you let me hold you…”
“Just give me a second, Juho.”
He used to scoff at characters in novels who suddenly confessed that they remembered a past life. If it were me, I’d never believe it. Even now, Tae-rim couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality—how could he expect someone else to believe him? Maybe saying he remembered a past life would sound more plausible. He made up his mind.
“Juho, listen carefully. I need you to take this seriously.”
“Okay.”
Juho nodded, his expression earnest. He was always so obedient when Tae-rim spoke. Holding up three fingers, Tae-rim began.
“Let’s say there are three types of people. This one’s an Alpha, this one’s an Omega, and this one’s a Beta.”
“Got it.”
He started by explaining in detail the differences between the Alpha, Omega, and Beta physiologies. Juho listened with bright, curious eyes. Judging by the way he was watching Tae-rim, it seemed like he’d already pieced together what this was all about. Maybe that’s why he was so focused.
“The truth is… I remember my past life. I know it’s hard to believe—it’s hard for me to believe too.”
“I believe you, Hyung.”
Tae-rim blinked. Did he really just say that? That was the kind of line a main character in a webnovel would say. He couldn’t believe he was actually hearing it. And yet… it wasn’t wrong. He had died, after all—and ended up in this world. That made his previous life exactly that: a past life.
“In that life, I was an Omega. At first, when you said I smelled like one, I didn’t want to believe you. But once I started picking up your pheromones, I knew I had to tell you. I think my body stabilized as a Beta after I matured, but you… You’ve suddenly gone through a growth spurt. There’s a real chance you’ve developed into an Alpha. And it might be because of me.”
“I see.”
“No! This isn’t just something you brush off with an ‘I see!’ Remember what I said about ruts? We don’t have any medication here—this could be seriously bad!”
“It might not happen. And if it does, we’ll deal with it then. Okay, Hyung?”
“Ugh… Juho, you’ve never seen what it’s like when someone goes into rut or heat. It’s not something you can just shrug off.”
“But it’s not like we have any real solutions right now, right? If it happens, we’ll go to the doctors. Just tell them I’ve got some unusual condition. They’ll run tests or something.”
“You think we can just tell them that?”
“Why not?”
“But…”
It’s not the same. They weren’t just “unusual.” They were basically another species. That’s why Tae-rim thought it was safer not to say anything. But after hearing Juho’s words, it felt like someone had smacked him in the head.
Juho was right.
No one here even knew what Alphas or Omegas were. If they just claimed it was some kind of rare physiological mutation, the Center’s researchers would jump at the chance to study it.
“They’ll probably come up with medicine too. I mean, let’s be honest—I’m basically a lab rat here anyway. They don’t do the kind of inhuman experiments those other bastards did, but they still draw blood regularly, check my Wavelengths, run every kind of test. And it’s not like I even know what drugs I’ve been pumped full of. So if something weird happens, they’ll just chalk it up to that. You can just say it’s side effects from being near me.”
“Juho…”
“So don’t worry about it, Hyung. I’ll protect you.”
Sew juho he such a sweety