“What does that mean?”

“It seems like your body can’t absorb Jung Inhyuk’s pheromones.”

“Can’t absorb them?”

“To put it simply, your body seems to have already undergone mutation and massively absorbed Jung Inhyuk’s pheromones, so it can’t absorb any more. If it can’t absorb them, that means the pheromone gland isn’t functioning properly.”

I didn’t really understand what Kang Jigyu was saying. As I tilted my head and frowned, he stood up and picked up the office phone on the desk.

✿ • ✿ • ✿

I took a taxi home from in front of the hospital. It was still drizzling. I looked out the window and stared at the sky packed with dark clouds.

Kang Jigyu had kept me seated on the sofa while he made nonstop phone calls. He explained my symptoms and listened to their opinions. Every time he hung up, Kang Jigyu would say, “I’m not incompetent, I just want to gather as many opinions as possible so I can make an accurate diagnosis.” And after a long while, he diagnosed the phenomenon as pheromone hold.

In simple terms, because Jung Inhyuk had flooded me with too many pheromones, my body had mistaken it for imprinting or pregnancy and was rejecting all pheromones. So it was a strange state where I could recognize pheromones through my sense of smell, but they wouldn’t be absorbed by my body.

I had to stay like this until the next heat cycle, no matter what. What I still couldn’t understand was why Jung Inhyuk had been able to knot me in the rectum rather than in the passage leading to the uterus. The more the thoughts tangled and multiplied, the more my head hurt. Alphas and omegas were far more sensitive and complicated than I had thought.

I let out a small sigh and stared blankly at the scenery slipping past. Before long, the car turned into a narrow alley. I grabbed my bag and hurried to prepare to get out. Just as I paid and got down, I saw a familiar car. Jung Inhyuk’s car was parked in front of the house.

I didn’t even think to open an umbrella and ran into the house to avoid the pouring rain. When I opened the front door, Jung Inhyuk’s shoes were neatly lined up. Odoi, who always came to greet me, was only barking from far away after hearing my footsteps. It seemed Jung Inhyuk had put Odoi in the utility room kennel.

I took off my shoes and put on slippers. Jung Inhyuk, who was sitting on the living room sofa with a laptop on his thighs and working, lifted his head. His face was full of exhaustion.

“When… did you get here?”

“What did the hospital say?”

“…They said it’s a pheromone hold state.”

“What’s that?”

“They said your pheromones are so full inside my body that I can’t absorb any more, and that this state will continue until my next heat cycle comes.”

Jung Inhyuk let out a short breath and fixed his gaze on the laptop screen. Seeing that he didn’t say anything else, it seemed he had expected it. I passed by him and went into the dressing room, took off my clothes, and changed into a comfortable T-shirt and pants.

But there was a suitcase I didn’t recognize sitting in one corner of the dressing room. Uh… wait, what? I rushed to open the wardrobe, and neatly hanging inside were a suit case and shirts that looked like they belonged to Jung Inhyuk. I slammed the wardrobe door shut and ran back into the living room.

“Are you going to commute from here?”

“…Why, is that a problem?”

“No, it’s just that the company is far from here, and it must be inconvenient for you.”

“That’s not something you need to worry about.”

He was right. This house belonged to Jung Inhyuk in the first place. I had no right to tell him whether he could stay here or not. He had always been as self-centered as ever, so with a feeling of resignation I opened the utility room door. Just as expected, Odoi, trapped in the kennel, whined pitifully.

When I was home alone, I could let Odoi roam freely, but that was impossible when I was with Jung Inhyuk. He hated having animals in the house to an extreme degree. To be honest, the fact that he hadn’t thrown Odoi out and had allowed me to keep him was already enough to make the heavens and earth split open.

I gathered snacks, a food bowl, a pee pad, and other supplies from the basket on one side and slung it over my shoulder. Then I carefully picked up the kennel.

“Odoi, don’t bark.”

Hoping Odoi really wouldn’t bark, I swallowed hard and left the utility room. I walked as quietly as possible, killing my footsteps. When I passed through the living room, my heart shrank so much I could barely breathe. I opened the door nearest the entrance without making a sound.

When the door opened, furniture that showed no signs of use came into view. This was the room left empty as a guest room. I set down the kennel and shopping bag and crouched on the floor to find the treats.

The moment I opened the kennel, Odoi ran out as if he had been waiting and buried himself in my arms. He made a whining sound and rubbed his face against my arm as if complaining that Jung Inhyuk had locked him up. I calmed Odoi down slowly and gave him treats.

After enough treats, I laid a pee pad on the floor. I also set the food and water bowls to one side and stuffed treats into a toy so he could do nose work. It seemed like all that was left was to bring over Odoi’s favorite cushion. After finishing roughly with the setup, I sat on the floor and held Odoi in my arms.

After playing a little with Odoi using the toy, I stood up to go get the cushion. I coaxed Odoi, who was poking his face through the crack in the door, back inside and closed the door.

“Lee Shinjae.”

Jung Inhyuk propped his chin on one hand and crooked a finger at me. I hesitantly walked over to him. Then he rotated the laptop screen to show me. The screen was filled with a photo taken in the hallway on the day of the script reading, showing me and Oh Giju standing face-to-face and talking.

“I think some explanation is needed.”

I was so flustered I couldn’t get the words out for a long time. When Jung Inhyuk nudged my toes with his foot to urge me on, I finally opened my mouth reluctantly.

“We met at the script reading. I didn’t know, but he’d been cast as my brother.”

“So the two of you cooked up some scheme and were going to pull another stunt behind my back?”

“No, that never happened. I was going to tell you I ran into Oh Giju.”

“And?”

“I thought you might tell me to drop out of the movie… I really want to do this film.”

Jung Inhyuk picked up the cigarette on the table, put it in his mouth, and lit it. I hurriedly bent down, pulled out the ashtray I had placed under the table, and set it in place. I didn’t care if he beat me a few times, but I was afraid he might stop me from doing the movie.

There wasn’t much time left until filming began, and if I suddenly dropped out, a lot of people would be in trouble. I urgently added, “If you look at the script, you’ll see there aren’t many scenes where I clash with Oh Giju.”

“……”

“He only appears briefly at the beginning, so it should be fine. We absolutely won’t meet privately either.”

“Fine. Are you sure?”

“Yes! Really. Absolutely sure.”

Surprisingly, the mood wasn’t going badly. I swallowed dryly and watched Jung Inhyuk’s expression. He stubbed out the cigarette he had barely smoked and stood up. I was startled when he suddenly strode toward me and took a step back without thinking. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into an embrace.

I was startled by the unpredictable action, but to avoid upsetting him, I didn’t move a muscle. Jung Inhyuk buried his nose in my neck and took a deep breath.

“Until Oh Giju finishes filming, you’re going to stay with Park Suwon.”

“…Huh?”

“If you don’t like it, quit filming.”

Jung Inhyuk let me go and stepped back. Having already been miserable because of my mutation into an omega, and now being told to keep Park Suwon by my side too, I quickly started thinking. Then it suddenly hit me that Park Suwon was an alpha.

“S-Suwon is an alpha. You really want to stick an alpha right next to me?”

“Park Suwon isn’t the kind of guy who can’t control himself, and as long as you don’t try to sweet-talk him, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Why, are you worried you might want to spread your legs for Park Suwon?”

Jung Inhyuk laughed loosely, poking at my butt. I couldn’t tell whether he fully trusted Park Suwon or was just testing him. Just thinking about having Park Suwon, who was already uncomfortable, trail me around the filming set made my head ache.

“You’re friends, so what’s the problem?”

“…We’re not friends anymore.”

“Really? That’s music to my ears.”

“So if you’re going to assign someone to me, please don’t make it Park Suwon. Put someone else with me.”

Jung Inhyuk was silent for a while, as if deep in thought. Sitting back into the sofa, he pulled me onto his thigh by the waist. Then he slipped a hand under my T-shirt and rubbed my stomach.

“The sponsor who got Oh Giju acquitted and put him in Director Yoon Pansu’s movie.”

“……”

“You know him too.”

Names of Jung Inhyuk’s acquaintances flashed through my head. But among them, there wasn’t anyone who showed much interest in the entertainment industry. Gu Jinmo from the Gu Ryeong Group, or Noh Jiwook from the Sinju Group? But neither of them seemed like the type to pour that much money and effort into an actor.

“Gu Jinmo or Noh Jiwook come to mind, but they don’t really seem like people who’d invest in celebrities.”

“Gu Jinmo’s into sports and the arts. He used to be into volleyball players, then basketball players, then baseball players, and lately he’s been obsessed with a violinist and throwing money at him.”

“Then Noh Jiwook?”

“Noh Jiwook’s had a crush on Seo Jimin for, what, 20 years now?”

Jung Inhyuk was acting a little weird today. Tilting my head, I absentmindedly reached out and touched his forehead. He didn’t have a fever… Jung Inhyuk let out a snort and took my hand, pressing a kiss into my palm. Why was he telling me such trivial things? I kept my suspicion and stared at him.

“Manager.”

“You should finish the story you started.”

“……”

“Oh Giju’s sponsor,”

“……”

“It’s Jung Suhyeok.”

I covered my mouth with both hands and widened my eyes. The shocking fact felt like it had stiffened my brain completely. After a long while, I came to my senses and turned my head to look at Jung Inhyuk. Jung Inhyuk smiled faintly and stroked my cheek.

“Now you seem a little scared.”