That didn’t mean Tae-rim disliked kissing Seon Juho. If he had, he would’ve been repulsed by his pheromones from the very beginning.
At first, he’d thought, What kind of kiss is this with a kid? But after a few kisses, the idea of Juho being a “kid” completely vanished. A kid? What kind of kid kisses like that? Tae-rim felt like he was about to be devoured.
In the beginning, Juho had been awkward, only managing to suck on his lips. But it didn’t take long for him to get the hang of it and start kissing properly. If he were truly innocent, there’s no way he’d know how good it feels when you run your tongue along the roof of someone’s mouth. But Juho did exactly that—teasing the roof of Tae-rim’s mouth with the tip of his tongue until Tae-rim’s senses short-circuited. All Tae-rim could think of was Esper training.
Juho also knew how to touch. He licked the inside of Tae-rim’s ear, kissed just behind it, and gently pinched his nipples while caressing his chest.
He hadn’t put his hands inside Tae-rim’s one-piece gown, and that was the only thing that saved him. If he had, it would’ve been a total disaster.
Still, Juho went after every inch of exposed skin. When Tae-rim looked in the mirror after coming back, he was stunned. He’d expected a few marks, but his entire neck and the surrounding area were red—like he’d come down with some kind of rash. Bite marks, hickeys—it was a mess.
He could see Juho’s obsession in those marks. That obsession was tenacious, almost terrifying. Some of them had already turned purple.
Juho wasn’t just an Esper—he was also an Alpha. Tae-rim should’ve expected this level of intensity. But he’d been too careless, too trusting of Juho’s harmless appearance. That had been a huge mistake.
To be honest, it scared him a little. But it was Tae-rim’s fault that Juho became an Alpha. As Juho had said, he needed to take responsibility. This wasn’t the time to waver.
Because of all that, everyone who saw Tae-rim after he returned to the center misunderstood his relationship with Juho. And really, who could blame them when he showed up looking like that?
Tae-rim said there was no way he could walk around like this and even got steroid ointment, but the bruises didn’t fade easily. Even after using ointment meant for bruising, the marks lingered for quite a while. It seemed like Juho had gone at him desperately, drunk on pheromones. Thank God it was winter. Tae-rim had to wear a turtleneck under his shirt for the time being.
Tae-rim’s worries only deepened. He liked Juho. But he didn’t know if it was that kind of like. Maybe his body could be swept up in pheromones and fall into bed with him, but his heart wasn’t so sure.
What he felt wasn’t the same as Juho. That much was clear. Still, he definitely liked him. Juho was like a cute, spoiled little brother. Well… a bit too wild for a “little brother”… And that face he makes when he kisses—totally cheating.
Tae-rim sighed again. People always say Guides are easy…
“Hyung, what are you thinking so hard about?”
“Huh?”
Startled, Tae-rim glanced at the TV, where a preview for the latest melodramatic revenge drama She’s Nobody’s Daughter was playing. Damn. He’d have to rewatch it later.
“Are you worried about something? You look really serious.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“…Hyung, were you thinking about me just now?”
“Huh? What?”
“Our Juho is getting more handsome by the day~”
Juho leaned in with his chin resting on his hand, his face coming closer. Tae-rim couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked so cute when he did that.
“Hyuung~”
Juho tried to lay his head in Tae-rim’s lap, but Tae-rim pushed his head away with a hand, smiling faintly.
“No.”
“Why not!”
“… ”
No matter how cute he looked, an Alpha was still an Alpha. He could turn into a beast in an instant. Ever since Juho made that comment about pheromones between his legs, Tae-rim hadn’t let him use his lap as a pillow again. This sly brat. How could he pretend to be all innocent while lying there, sniffing him? Never again!
“I just…”
“Just what?”
“I just really like how my hyung smells…”
Even if he said it like that, Tae-rim wasn’t the one in the wrong. He responded firmly.
“Still no.”
“Hing.”
Even if he looked like a sulking puppy, some things were just off-limits. When his usual secret weapon didn’t work, Juho pouted and wrapped his arms around Tae-rim. Then he buried his nose in Tae-rim’s neck.
He sniffed loudly—on purpose, so Tae-rim would hear it. Tae-rim could only sigh.
Pressing your nose directly against someone’s pheromone gland at the nape of their neck to sniff it—that was something only lovers did. Taking in someone’s pheromones so openly carried heavy sexual undertones. It was the kind of thing you had to be very careful about. One wrong move, and the other person could end up seriously uncomfortable.
But Seon Juho…
Lee Tae-rim let out a long sigh. This was all his fault. He was the one who had let Seon Juho develop such bad habits. Every time Seon Juho had done something like this, Tae-rim had just played dumb, pretending not to notice the scent of his own pheromones. He’d never stopped him, never corrected him. So now, Seon Juho thought sniffing his pheromones was completely normal.
There weren’t any Alphas or Omegas here anyway, so no one thought much of Seon Juho’s behavior. No one would even suspect that he was sniffing pheromones—they’d probably just assume he was being clingy again. His spoiled, overly affectionate behavior was already famous around the Center, so no one batted an eye.
Seon Juho, busy taking in his scent, was quiet like a kid sucking on a piece of candy.
Tae-rim found it strange. If it were any other Alpha, he would’ve been absolutely disgusted. But with Seon Juho, for some reason, it didn’t bother him. Maybe because he still thought of him as just a kid…
“Hyung, it feels weird. You’re way too relaxed right now.”
“Huh?”
“Your scent is… just really calm. Like you’ve completely let your guard down.”
“What?”
“It’s a weird feeling. I like that I can make you feel safe, but I don’t like the idea of you seeing me only as someone who puts you at ease.”
“Uh… well…”
“What kind of feeling even is this?”
“Wait, hold on—are you saying you can feel my emotions now, too?”
“Yeah.”
“…What the hell.”
Tae-rim stared at him, dumbfounded. Being able to read someone’s emotional state through their pheromones—down to that level of detail—that was something that only happened between people with an Imprint.
He froze.
Imprint.
He had been Imprinted by this kid. But… no. No way. That couldn’t be it. Could it?
No way. The thought kept spinning around in his head like a fever dream. This kind of Imprint and that kind of Imprint were supposed to be completely different. So why did it feel like they were the same?
This didn’t make any sense.
“When did this start?”
“I’m not sure. It’s been a while.”
“Was it before you got kidnapped?”
“Yeah. That, I know for sure.”
Tae-rim felt like his brain was short-circuiting. None of this made any damn sense. Sure, this world was part of a novel, but this was too sloppy. An Esper’s Imprint and an Alpha’s Imprint were completely separate things. So why the hell…!
But what was done was done. There was no undoing it. And now he was stuck.
“You don’t like me sensing your feelings?”
It was a privacy violation, technically. But then Seon Juho looked up at him again with that big, puppy-dog expression, all anxious and worried, and any irritation Tae-rim had evaporated on the spot.
Damn that face. Damn his weakness for handsome idiots.
“Hmm? Hyuuuung~ Come on, answer meee.”
Honestly, Seon Juho hadn’t done anything wrong. The Incomplete Imprint had been a survival instinct, and the whole Alpha manifestation? That was just another stupid cliché Tae-rim had walked right into.
If Seon Juho was guilty of anything, it was just following his instincts.
Tae-rim held back the urge to ruffle his hair and gave him an answer instead.
“It’s fine. It’s not like you tried to figure out how I was feeling.”
“Hyung…”
“Reading emotions through pheromones isn’t exactly impossible.”
“But… you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset with you. It’s just… haah.”
A deep sigh slipped out.
Sure, he’d always had this third-person detachment toward the world, always reminded himself this was all just a novel. But even so, he’d done his best to live. He’d accepted the fact that this was his reality now, and he was trying—really trying—to adapt and build a life here.
So why did remnants of his past life, the one he thought he’d finally escaped, keep creeping back in?
Becoming a Beta had been the one thing that had actually gone right.
It wasn’t that he hated Seon Juho’s pheromones or anything, but that absence of scent—the peace that came with it—had felt so comforting.
But maybe not.
Maybe the moment he twisted the story, this trial had already been set in motion.
He saved Seon Juho, who was supposed to become the villain’s final weapon. He lived, even though Lee Tae-rim was supposed to die.
The two of them had survived—but the original couple at the heart of the story had fallen apart.
Choi Jiwoon didn’t have much time left. Kwon Hae-beom was barely holding on. The two of them were meant to fall in love, to Imprint on each other. But now…
Even so, he didn’t regret it.
Tae-rim hadn’t wanted to die. That was it. He’d done what he had to, just to survive.
Even if this world was fictional, he wasn’t. He was alive. A living, breathing person. A normal person who just wanted to live.
He felt a little guilty for what had happened to Kwon Hae-beom and Choi Jiwoon, but it wasn’t like he’d wanted things to turn out this way.
He’d seen the major plot threads continuing to play out, and sure, he’d wondered if maybe something might go wrong. But in the end, he’d had no choice but to look away. Pretend he didn’t see.
Because Lee Tae-rim didn’t want to die.
