He hadn’t.
'He really does use a strange fragrance.'
Doh Yihyun stroked his chin, recalling the pleasant floral scent that lingered in the executive office.
"It’s honestly fascinating. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I still can’t control mine very well."
One of the team members rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Yihyun. He seemed to be under the firm misconception that Yihyun, like Seo Jeongun, had perfect control over his pheromones.
In reality, it was just that his pheromones were too weak to be noticeable.
People said most could manipulate their pheromones as naturally as breathing, but Yihyun could hardly handle his at all. For someone who learned everything quickly—especially anything physical—it was rare.
"Alright, let’s wrap up! Let’s go eat beef!"
Before long, the team members poured out of the office under Kim Yumin’s lead.
Left alone, Doh Yihyun finished up his work at a moderate pace and stood. A large shadow loomed at the office entrance, and when he casually turned his gaze, his eyes met a man in a long coat.
"Yihyun, are you heading home now?"
Seo Jeongun approached, the hem of his coat swaying. The camel coat was so long it would nearly drag on the floor on most people. It paired well with his light check patterned gray suit.
"What is it."
"Whenever you see me, you always ask what I want. Can’t you change that line? It’s too stiff."
Seo Jeongun tilted his head slightly, hands tucked into his coat pockets. His ash brown hair slipped smoothly across his neat forehead with the movement.
"Why didn’t you go to the team dinner?"
"If you don’t have any business—"
"Do you want to go have dinner with me?"
As Yihyun openly showed his annoyance, Seo Jeongun quickly cut to the point.
"…I have plans."
For a brief moment, he wavered at the offer, but Yihyun quickly regained his composure. It was one thing within the company, but he didn’t want to let Seo Jeongun into his personal life. One meal a day was enough to manage his condition.
"You don’t even bother coming up with a better excuse?"
It wasn’t an excuse, but Yihyun silently gathered his things.
"…Are they plans I can send away for you?"
Seo Jeongun grabbed his wrist.
But contrary to expectation, the touch was gentle.
Yihyun paused for a brief moment.
Seo Jeongun didn’t miss that gap and softly brushed his thumb along the inside of Yihyun’s wrist.
'And if I don’t let you go, then what?'
A beat too late, Yihyun pulled his arm away and looked up at him with displeasure.
"Ha, fine. It’s not my place to interfere."
Seo Jeongun let out a deep sigh and raised both hands.
"In front of you, I feel like I shrink into nothing. This is the first time I’ve ever felt like this in my life."
Shrink into nothing. It wasn’t something a man well over 190 centimeters tall should be saying. The exaggeration was excessive.
"If I wait… will you come this time?"
"I don’t know what you mean."
Yihyun frowned.
He had grown somewhat accustomed to Seo Jeongun’s ridiculous nonsense and unreasonably close sense of distance, but this kind of cryptic, riddle like way of speaking was still impossible to get used to.
"So you want to pretend it never happened at all? I don’t."
Every so often, Seo Jeongun would bring up things only he seemed to know.
"I’ll be going now."
Yihyun gave a brief nod and stepped away. If he kept exchanging meaningless words with Seo Jeongun, he would be late for his hospital appointment.
"…I’ll wait."
Seo Jeongun threw the words stubbornly at Yihyun’s retreating back.
"Are you secretly seeing the baby’s mother behind my back?"
It was the first thing the doctor said the moment he saw Yihyun after nearly a week.
Since Yihyun had consistently remained silent whenever asked about the other parent, the doctor had at some point settled on calling them "the baby’s mother."
At the very least, Yihyun was certain it wasn’t the baby’s mother, but the baby’s father. Still, he felt no need to correct it. They would never meet again anyway.
"No."
Yihyun corrected him bluntly. Lately, it felt like he was being misunderstood everywhere he went.
"So what exactly does the baby’s mother do? If they have any decency at all, they should at least show their face once."
Clicking his tongue, the doctor checked Yihyun’s test results. This story is hosted at g.com.
"Still, it looks like what you said about eating better is true. If you just maintain this, I won’t ask for anything more."
The doctor let out a relieved sigh, as if putting one worry to rest.
"Is it possible for morning sickness to ease only in a specific place?"
Yihyun finally voiced the question that had been bothering him. If he could identify why his nausea decreased in the executive office, maybe he could replicate it elsewhere.
"If it’s a place where you feel psychologically comfortable, maybe. But cases like that are rare."
If anything, Yihyun felt more uncomfortable than at ease in Seo Jeongun’s office. So it didn’t seem to be about the space.
"Then what about when you’re with a specific person?"
"Is that person an Alpha?"
The doctor’s eyes lit up, as if he had roughly grasped why Yihyun had recently been able to eat at least one proper meal a day.
"Yes."
"That’s not common either, but it’s possible your pheromone compatibility with him is good. Bring him in once. If nothing else, you could at least ask him to help with pheromone therapy."
The doctor spoke rapidly, excitement creeping into his voice.
Normally, pheromones from someone the patient personally knows aren’t used in treatment. That alone showed how serious Yihyun’s condition was.
"I don’t think that’s it. I’ve never even smelled his pheromones. And since he’s my superior, it would be difficult to ask."
The doctor shot him a displeased look but didn’t push further. He knew Yihyun hadn’t disclosed the pregnancy at work yet—and that the reason was the high risk of miscarriage—so he couldn’t press recklessly.
"Then just get close to the guy. What does anything else matter? You need to eat something to survive."
Yihyun pressed his lips together.
He knew the doctor was right, but he didn’t want to get close to Seo Jeongun. Whenever he became involved with him, it felt like something kept going off track.
"It’s surprising to see you react like that."
"What do you mean?"
"Openly disliking someone. It’s not like you to show preferences so clearly."
Though their relationship was strictly doctor and patient, the doctor knew Yihyun fairly well after seeing him for so long.
"And it seems the baby’s other parent is an Alpha."
The doctor tapped the screen with a complicated expression. It meant that as the fetus grew, Yihyun would suffer even more severe side effects from other Alphas’ pheromones.
'Of all things…'
At the bad news, Yihyun’s lips hardened. He was already struggling with pheromone rejection—if it got any worse…