Hyunsuk opens his eyes. Looking at the ceiling above him, Hyunsuk just knew that he might get into trouble. He can feel the back of his left hand is a little uncomfortable. Most probably because of the IV drip he needs to get. Hyunsuk sighed.
“You’re up, hyung?” Hyunsuk can hear Jihoon's voice. He turned to face Jihoon who sat beside the bed he’s on. “How's your feeling? How's your body? Do you feel hurt anywhere? Should I call the doctor now?”
“What's the date today?” Hyunsuk asked.
“It’s 6th November,” Jihoon answered. It has been 3 days since the last time he remembered. And he has no memories whatsoever for the past days. He definitely gets into trouble for sure. “How are you feeling hyung? How did you suddenly get your heat? Isn't it too early for it?”
“I wonder,” Hyunsuk said. “Did I trouble you a lot?”
Jihoon quickly shook his head. Seeing that made Hyunsuk grinned, mentally. He didn't have enough energy to move his face muscles to give any reaction to that. But really. Jihoon just looked really cute when he denied it. Almost like a puppy. Realizing his own thoughts, Hyunsuk closed his eyes. Trying to erase whatever thoughts he just had about Jihoon shaking his head cutely while denying that.
“What's wrong, hyung? Did you hurt anywhere? I’ll call the doctor now,” Jihoon asked in a panicked tone.
“Don't,” Hyunsuk said. “Stay,”
“You need the doctor to examine you, hyung. What if you got any other sickness or anything? At least we can treat it as fast as we can,” Jihoon said. “With you getting your heat way too early and it's pretty wild hyung. Maybe you really need to get it checked up. Maybe you need to change your medicine or something. You're like you got affected by the heat inducing drug earlier. Did you take any drugs? Are you that depressed that you need to take drugs? You should tell me. I’m always by your side hyung. You can rely on me. Don't rely on those harmful substances. It won't even help you in any way. It will just make it even worse. You should talk to me. Tell me what's bothering you. Is it because of the scandal? I’ll try my best to help you. I can guarantee that we can get enough evidence that can prove your innocence. And I will work hard to change the public view toward you. I'm not that big but with what I have now, I can surely influence the public. If not all, maybe like a quarter. It will be better than none. So, please don't do drugs, hyung. Rely on me. Lean on me. Do you think I’m not reliable enough? I’m working hard to make you believe that you can rely on me,”
Hyunsuk didn't say anything but just stared at Jihoon's face. He can tell that the younger Alpha really cares about him. It's probably the first time in his life, he feels like he wants to rely on someone else. For almost 30 years of living, he always enjoyed taking care of people. He always finds it will be better if he's the one who is someone else's person to lean on. But months after meeting Jihoon, his view probably changed. Did Jihoon change him? Is he getting weaker now?
“Hyung? Are you really alright? Say something please. You're making me worried,” Jihoon said.
“You're worried about me?” Hyunsuk asked.
“Are you really okay, hyung? Please. I know I’m not that good or anything. But I promise you. I can take care of you. I will make sure that you'll be fine with me. Just please tell me if you're feeling down. If you are feeling anything. Just tell me. Share it with me. I won't judge or force you to do things if you don't want to. I just want to be the one who you can share your stories with me. Sad times, hard times, happy times. I want to be the one who you are comfortable to share it with,” Jihoon said. “Just please care about yourself more. Please take care of your health more. Please treasure yourself more because you deserve everything. You deserve more,”
“Jihoon-ah,” Hyunsuk called the younger Alpha’s name.
“Yes, hyung?”
“Park Jihoon,” he called Jihoon again. “Thank you,”
“Hyung… You make me scared. What is it? I don't want to hear if it's your last words or something. You are not dying. I’m calling the doctor and I will arrange a professional psychiatrist to have a session with you. You will be fine. I will make sure that you will be fine,” Jihoon said. Hyunsuk giggles hearing Jihoon's words. The more the younger Alpha talks, the more dramatic the situation will sound. “You must’ve been really not well, hyung,”
“Are you done?” Hyunsuk asked.
“I’m not,” Jihoon said.
“Jihoon-ah. Your hyung over here is just fine. Just a little mentally tired but I can handle it,” Hyunsuk said. “I really appreciate all of your suggestions and your efforts to want to help me. But really. I’m fine,”
“But hyung-”
“Did you bite your arm again this time? I’m pretty sure that you haven't marked me yet,” Hyunsuk asked.
“Yeah. But not as hard as before,” Jihoon said. “Your doctor told me that if I can handle my pheromone well, I can make sure to shower you with enough pheromone to calm you down when you get your heat. And.. intercourse helps as well,”
“And why are you blushing?” Hyunsuk asked.
“No. Nothing,” Jihoon said while putting both of his hands on his cheeks, covering his flushed cheeks. Hyunsuk scoffed.
“You're unbelievable, Jihoon-ah,” Hyunsuk said. “Sometimes, I wonder if you care about me too much or didn't really care about me. Do you really like me or is it just a child idol crush? I really couldn't figure it out,”
“I really like you, hyung. You still didn't believe me?” Jihoon asked.
“Because you didn't even mark me,”
“I've told you before that I want you to be conscious when I do that. I want you yourself prepared mentally and physically to be my mate. It's not something that can easily be canceled like some kind of channel subscriptions or anything. It's a lifetime choice. I don't want you to regret it. Because the one who will be affected is you. Your body,” Jihoon said. “No matter how much I want you, but if you do not want to be with me. To be my pair, I won't force you. I want you to make the decision on your own will,”
“You're a really good guy, Jihoon-ah,” Hyunsuk said. “I don't deserve you,”
“That again. I’ve told you it's me who decides if you deserve to get any kind of treatment I did to you. Me. If it's a kind treatment, just enjoy it. If I treat you badly, tell me. Go away from me. You can even jail me if I treat you horribly,” Jihoon said.
“You're being dramatic again,” Hyunsuk said.
“I care about you, hyung,”
“I know,” Hyunsuk said. “When can I be discharged?”
“Huh?”
“It's suffocating being in the hospital,” Hyunsuk said.
“Oh! Right. I’ll call the doctor first,” Jihoon said. He then stood up and pecked Hyunsuk's forehead before he walked out of the room. Leaving Hyunsuk alone. He let out a sigh. No matter how much Jihoon said that he deserved better, it just feels like he doesn't. A few minutes after Jihoon left, Dr Lee came to his room.
“How is your body, Mr Choi Hyunsuk?” Dr Lee asked.
“It's fine, I guess,” Hyunsuk said.
“The inhibitor you took didn't work on you before, right? There's a note on your medical report,” Dr Lee said.
“Yeah. It was a heat terrorist attack,” Hyunsuk said.
“But this one, you're alone at home, right?” Dr Lee said.
“Yeah,”
“Is Mr Park Jihoon with you before you get your heat?” Dr Lee asked.
“No. He had a press conference and I was at home. The last thing I remember was I talked with him on the phone,” Hyunsuk said. “Then I was browsing the internet before I couldn't recall anything and I’m here,”
“I see,” Dr Lee said. “You said that Mr Park Jihoon had a press conference that day, right? Did you search for things related to that press conference after the phone call?”
“I-I guess,”
“From what I’ve examined, it's most probably pseudoheat,” Dr Lee said.
“Pseudo- did you say, my heat what fake?” Hyunsuk asked in disbelief.
“Only a few hours of it was pseudoheat. I’m talking about the reason you get your heat earlier than it is supposed to be. But after Mr Park Jihoon comes into the scene, you're getting a real heat induced by Alpha’s pheromone,” Dr Lee said. “From what I observed, Mr Park Jihoon’s pheromones are highly compatible for you. So did your pheromones to Mr Park Jihoon. People call it a match made in heaven but in medical terms it's just a high pheromone compatibility. Some people might have several people with a high compatibility of their pheromones. And for this case, even if Mr Park Jihoon released just enough pheromone, you can easily get your warm heat. And if you got exposed to his pheromone for too long and too much, you will experience a pheromone induced heat,”
“It was pseudo..” Imitation. Fake. Did he just fake his heat? Hyunsuk had read some articles about it. That Omega can fake their heat by releasing a mass amount of pheromones that can affect their body to act like they are in their real heat cycle. He just recalled that he managed to even call Dongwoo informing that he got his heat and wanted Jihoon.
“I think you might have already realized that you erased the pseudoheat memories. That you even call your manager and stuff,” Dr Lee said. “No worries, Mr Choi Hyunsuk. Your medical record won't be leaked to anyone without your consent. And this is not something that we can just easily make it public too. Because this is more personal. Rest assured,”
“I feel bad after recalling it,” Hyunsuk said.
“It's not a bad thing, really. You just want to keep him with you. Omega can't mark their Alpha. But they can tie their Alpha with things like this,” Dr Lee said. “And it seems like you might be a little down with all the fuss and stuff. You just want your Alpha to be with you. Yes. Your mind might keep on denying it. But your body didn't agree with it,”
“Am I getting weaker?”
“Hm.. I won't say that,” Dr Lee said. “Just look at it like this. Someone can be strong if they are alone. But if someone, have someone who they care about. When they know that someone cares about them, they will try their best to be even stronger. Why? Because they not only need to be strong for themselves. But also the one who is dear to them as well. To make sure that they can protect themselves as well as the one who cares about them. For you, starting to see someone else other than you as precious. Someone that you can lean on, it doesn't necessarily make you weaker. It will make you stronger because you have more souls to be fighting for, to take care of,”
Hyunsuk closed his eyes. Stronger, huh? Will he?
“Having someone like that is not a bad idea though. You might think relying on someone makes you weaker. But no. Having the right person will make you even stronger. Make you more motivated to be better,” Dr Lee said. “I won't force you. No one will force you. You deserve to make your own decisions. I only let you know your medical test results. If you need a whole report, I can arrange a time for you to get a medical check up,”
“Am I sick?” Hyunsuk asked.
“You're just a little exhausted, malnourished and lacking sleep. Other than that, you're probably fine. If you need a check up on your pheromones and heat cycle, we need another check up,” Dr Lee said. “But so far, your health is in a okay condition,”
“I’ll try to look at my schedule,” Hyunsuk said.
“Okay. After this drip finishes, you can already discharge. Make sure to come for a follow up check up next week. I will send you a reminder about it,” Dr Lee said. She wrote something and handed it to Hyunsuk. “These are mostly additional nutrition and vitamins. Make sure to take the medicine daily and don't skip your meal,”
°
“Hyung. Are you sure you're okay?” Jihoon asked as soon as he arrived at Hyunsuk's place. After getting discharged, Jihoon told him that he had a schedule to attend to. He only arrived 5 hours after Hyunsuk arrived home. He saw the medicines on the table. “What the hell? Why are there so many? Did you really not get sick? Why did they discharge you?”
“Those are mostly nutrition supplements and vitamins,” Hyunsuk said. Hyunsuk turned to look at Jihoon who seemed like he didn't move at all from where he was standing. “What?”
“I miss you so much,”
“We’ve met like 5 hours ago, Park Jihoon,” Hyunsuk chuckled.
“Am I not allowed to miss you?” Jihoon asked.
“Well. I don't disallow it or anything,” Hyunsuk said.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Hyunsuk asked.
“Yes,” Jihoon said. “I won't do it if you didn't want to,”
“Tsk!” Hyunsuk clicked his tongue. “Come here,”
Jihoon smiled when he heard that. He closed the distance between them and gently grabbed Hyunsuk and kissed him on his lips.