"It's not about taking sides. If sothing like that happened, you should have told ."
"Then you'd have hated it...."
He murmured in a small, deflated voice.
"What?"
"You hate it when I do that kind of thing. If you’d known, you would’ve tried to leave again."
"......."
"I didn’t want to do sothing you’d hate. But everything I want to do is sothing you hate...."
"What is it that I hate?"
"Being rude, doing bad things... and you hate being tied down. I want you to tell everything, but you hate that too."
I thought he only ever charged ahead recklessly, but he rembered every single thing I’d said to him....
"Seunghyuk, if you know, then don’t do it."
Then why rember it if you’re not going to act on it?
"...I wanted to give you trust. I wanted to show you that I trust you."
Ju Seunghyuk held my hand tightly. His voice was calm, but it carried sincerity.
"So I decided to get rid of every guy who bothered you, to clean things up so you could go to school in peace...."
This lunatic!
"...Don’t tell you did that to people other than Kim Jun, too?"
He glanced at , then slowly closed his mouth. The fact that he couldn’t answer made it even more suspicious.
"Why can’t you answer?"
"...Hyung, I really want you to acknowledge . I want you to not be afraid of , to trust . I thought a lot about how to make that happen. So I decided I should give you freedom."
Since the sester began, Ju Seunghyuk had changed a lot. Even after seeing with Kim Jun at the club eting, he’d let it go without a word. He’d cut down on using harsh language. He didn’t demand constant reports about my every move.
All of that had been the result of his own deliberation. He was afraid that if I got scared of him again, I might try to leave—so instead, he tried to give freedom.
For soone whose obsession could rival anyone in the world to make that kind of decision... it must have been unimaginably difficult. My chest suddenly tightened with a bittersweet ache.
"Seunghyuk..."
"To give you freedom, it’s only natural to remove the dangers. I can relax only if you’re safe. That’s why I did it...."
And there went that tenderness in an instant.
Still, I couldn’t pull my hand away. The desperate look in his eyes as he held my hand so tightly made it impossible.
"And besides, you can only receive the ring if you trust completely."
"You wanted the ring?"
"Yes. I want it."
His eyes shone like a child’s. Seeing that gentle look, as if he were speaking about the most precious gift in the world, made sothing in my chest stir strangely.
It’s just a ring. Sure, to most people it’s an impossibly rare treasure you could never get even with a lifeti of effort, but Ju Seunghyuk is different. He can get anything he wants.
Besides, this ring was a treasure he had won himself by defeating a boss. I might have it now, but if he asked for it, I could return it right away.
But clearly, what he ant now had nothing to do with material value.
"...Seunghyuk, you like a bigger build, don’t you?"
"No."
"Really? You can be honest."
"Honestly, during the rut, I was scared. Even while my reason was gone and instinct was raging, I kept thinking you were too fragile—like if I lost control, I’d break you. Even after the rut was over, I was too scared to touch you."
So that was why we hadn’t been together all this ti. It wasn’t disappointnt or a change of heart.
"So I thought, once you recovered, I should make you train a bit harder. I know you hate moving, but I figured you should try."
"......."
"But that’s all. Your build doesn’t matter. My ideal type is just Lee Yeonsu as you are."
He wants . But even knowing that, I still feel uneasy—probably because I love him.
Because I love him, I worry. I’m afraid our feelings might not be the sa.
"Seunghyuk, I’m a Beta."
I confessed the root of my worry.
"I know."
"I can’t sense your pheromones. Even if you send a signal with them, I won’t notice."
Once I opened the floodgates, I couldn’t stop. I poured out everything I’d been holding back.
"I don’t care. You don’t have to notice. I’ll notice yours."
"Don’t you want kids?"
"I’ve never even thought about having kids. I don’t think I’d be a good parent."
"But you talked about kids before."
"I just thought it’d be cute if there were a child who looked like you. That’s all it ant. I only want Lee Yeonsu, and nothing else matters."
And just like that, Ju Seunghyuk took away my worries and fears. Talking to him made the problems I’d agonized over alone seem like nothing at all.
"Are you really okay with a Beta?"
I asked again. It was the kind of repeated question that could annoy soone, but Seunghyuk’s face showed no irritation. Instead, he smiled as if to reassure , looking straight into my eyes.
"Traits don’t matter. Whether you’re Beta, Oga, or Alpha doesn’t matter at all. I never cared from the start. It’s not about a beautiful face or body, either. I only want the person who is Lee Yeonsu."
"......."
"I will never be the one to let go of your hand first. So trust ."
"......."
"Why do you look like you’re about to cry again?"
Was I crying? I shook my head to deny it, but tears slipped down anyway. I hurriedly wiped them with my hand and looked at him.
"Seunghyuk, did you get your pheromones on today too?"
"Yeah. I do every day. Why? You didn’t like it?"
I shook my head.
I don’t dislike it. I couldn’t. It just made sad.
"Seunghyuk, I want to sll your pheromones. I’m curious about them."
It’s not just the pheromones. I want to know everything about Ju Seunghyuk.
"Why? Why are you curious about my pheromones?"
"Because..."
There was so much I wanted to tell him.
How much I loved him. That I’m not afraid of him anymore and won’t try to run, so he can believe in .
That he doesn’t need to worry about anymore, that he should hold as much as he wants, that I want him too.
I wanted to pour out every bit of my heart into his eyes.
"Because I—"
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
Just as I was about to confess everything to Ju Seunghyuk, a loud sound erupted from my phone in my pocket.
I checked it. On the screen, a red letter S was flashing. It was an ergency alert signal from the Center to registered ability users, and it was the highest level—an S-Class Alert.
An S-Class Alert is triggered for S-Class Gate occurrences, imminent Gate Break crises, or massive national disasters.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
Not only my phone, but Seunghyuk’s too, began blaring the sa alarm.
"It’s S-Class."
He replied indifferently. He’d received the sa alert as .
And outside the door, the sa piercing alarm blared. The sound ca closer, and then soone knocked.
"Yeonsu."
It was Park Geonwoo’s voice. I was about to open the door, but Seunghyuk stepped in front of .
"I’ll get it."
"Okay."
He strode over and grabbed the doorknob. The mont the door opened, the alarm blared from outside.
It was coming from Park Geonwoo’s phone. Just like us, he had received the S-Class Alert.
"Hey, Yeonsu."
Geonwoo greeted awkwardly. It had been a while since I’d seen him—since the start of the sester. He looked a little worn out.
Was it because he’d lost weight, or because I now knew he had kept the truth about the Horaitron Gate hidden? The upright impression I’d had of him before felt different now.
"Hello."
"So you were here. I heard the sound and thought maybe... and Seunghyuk’s here too."
He addressed Seunghyuk belatedly. But Seunghyuk didn’t answer, just stared coldly at him.
Geonwoo looked away from him and back at .
"It’s an ergency. Let’s go to the Center."
The alert showed the level and the location. It ant that all ability users who received it were to gather there. And the location was the Korea Central Ability User Control Center.
"Yeah. We should."
This was a national ergency. As much as I had things I wanted to say to Seunghyuk, they’d have to wait.
I looked at him. He looked back at and squeezed my hand tightly, as if to say he would never let go.
***
We took the Ability User Academy bus to the Center.
Given it was an ergency, I thought all the higher-level ability users in the city would be deployed. But the only ones on the bus were the driver, , Seunghyuk, and Geonwoo.
Was the alert only sent to S-Class ability users? What on earth was going on?
Normally, the alert includes a brief explanation and location, but this ti, the reason was missing.
If it were an S-Class Gate or an imminent Gate Break, there’d be no reason to hide it. It had never been hidden before.
That ant sothing had happened—sothing like a large-scale accident or terror incident—that couldn’t easily be disclosed to the public.
I held Seunghyuk’s hand.
If it was serious and secret enough to warrant an S-Class Alert, Seunghyuk would have to step in. And I was afraid he might get hurt.
He stroked my head, letting lean on his shoulder.
"It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about."
His gentle voice brushed my ear, and the anxiety that had been trembling inside eased a little.
Reviews
All reviews (0)