After Eun Woo left, Ju Heon stayed behind to listen to the doctor explain a few precautions that pregnant people needed to keep in mind before their next checkup. Since the child had been conceived as part of a contract, there were quite a few things they needed to pay special attention to compared with ordinary couples. Once he had familiarized himself with the requirements during pregnancy, Ju Heon promptly moved on to his next appointment: a consultation with his personal doctor.
He had come here to discuss the strange reaction his body exhibited toward one person and one person only—Eun Woo. In fact, Ju Heon had informed the doctor about his condition some time ago. He needed to determine whether this peculiar exception Eun Woo represented was merely temporary or something that would last forever. As someone who disliked change by nature, Ju Heon secretly hoped it was only a passing phenomenon. But if it wasn’t, he would have to come up with a way to deal with it.
Eun Woo was clearly different from everyone else, but Ju Heon had never let that show. He didn’t want anyone to know about the changes taking place within him, which was why he couldn’t put off the examination any longer. He had to find out what was causing this change.
—-“So? Is your relationship with Baek Eun Woo still just temporary? Judging by the way you’re dressed, it seems you’re uncomfortable again.”
“…No, quite the opposite. This is just how I normally dress. You know that. It’s not like I only met Baek Eun Woo today.”
At Ju Heon’s words, the doctor, who had been typing rapidly on his keyboard, stopped and turned his attention to the conversation in earnest.
“Professor, could these problems be caused by pheromones?”
—“It’s difficult to say. An excessive obsession with cleanliness isn’t a pheromone-related issue. It stems from personal tendencies and obsessive-compulsive disorder, so there’s no basis for connecting it to pheromones. There has never been a case where someone’s compulsive cleanliness changed because of another person’s pheromones.”
Ju Heon wasn’t unaware of that. On the contrary, that was precisely why this had become such a problem.
After experiencing the change Eun Woo had caused, Ju Heon had tried interacting with other people, suspecting that perhaps this was merely a temporary malfunction triggered by pheromones. As luck would have it, there had been a gathering with some former classmates, so Ju Heon attended specifically to test himself.
The result had been undeniable.
“Not long ago, there was a gathering. I decided to try having a meal with them, but…”
—“You failed?”
Ju Heon closed his eyes and gave a slight nod. His face went pale for a moment, as though he didn’t even want to remember what had happened.
“I failed miserably. No, it wasn’t just a failure. I vomited everything I ate. The horrifying expression on the other person’s face while they were chewing kept flashing through my mind, and I collapsed right there in the bathroom. In that fucking filthy bathroom.”
Ju Heon raised his voice slightly, as though he couldn’t tolerate what he himself had done at the time. But how dirty could a five-star hotel’s bathroom really have been? It was probably cleaner than almost anywhere else. Seeing Ju Heon describe the place as though it were some filthy public restroom in the countryside, the doctor shook his head slightly.
“When I got home, I kept showering and disinfecting myself, then showering and disinfecting myself again, over and over like a madman for three days. I avoided all physical contact as well.”
—“You’ve been through a lot. It must have been difficult. But none of those symptoms appeared when you were with Baek Eun Woo, correct?”
“…That’s right. That’s why I’m going crazy. I can’t figure out why. If I knew what mechanism was causing this, I think I’d feel less suffocated by it…”
Ju Heon was the kind of person who could only feel at ease once he had found a precise answer for every cause and effect. For someone with that personality, Eun Woo was an incredibly frustrating existence—someone he couldn’t decipher.
He felt no disgust or sense of uncleanliness toward Baek Eun Woo whatsoever, and that very irrationality was what made him so restless. He didn’t know why.
But even more astonishing was the fact that, despite feeling uncomfortable, Ju Heon had begun to grow curious about him instead of simply avoiding him altogether. Perhaps because Eun Woo was the first person of his kind that Ju Heon had ever encountered, he found himself wanting to observe him despite his discomfort. Read this novel at novelping dot com for the best experience.
To see just how far he could go.
A few days ago, something astonishing had happened: he and Eun Woo had drunk something together. The circumstances had simply led to it. Eun Woo hadn’t looked messy or unpleasant while drinking at all. Even when a little juice leaked from the straw, Ju Heon hadn’t felt nauseated.
It was perfectly normal. Everyone drank like that, didn’t they?
He had thought that to himself.
It was strange how naturally he had accepted Eun Woo’s appearance.
“For me, having a meal with someone is something I haven’t done in so long that I can’t even remember the last time. As you know, I don’t even eat with my family. Since I was able to drink something with Baek Eun Woo without feeling sick, I got reckless enough to try what I did at that gathering.”
—-“Baek Eun Woo really is quite extraordinary. It’s only natural that you’re confused. There has never been a precedent for something like this.”
“Should I see a psychiatrist?”
—“Let’s see. Before that, I think you should take a pheromone response test. I’ve never encountered a case like this either, but I do have a hypothesis.”
“A hypothesis?”
The moment the doctor uttered the word “hypothesis,” Ju Heon’s face lit up as if a man stranded in the desert had just found water.
—-“This is only my speculation, but could it be because Baek Eun Woo is carrying your child?”
“What?”
—-“Well.. At the moment, Baek Eun Woo’s body contains a mixture of your pheromones as a result of the pregnancy. On top of that, he’s carrying a child with your genes. So naturally, his body must have undergone significant changes. When another person’s pheromones and hormones enter the body, the resulting changes can be substantial. Add the hormones being produced by the baby itself, and Baek Eun Woo’s body is now completely different from what it was before.”
“…That could be it.”
Hearing the doctor point out something he had never considered, Ju Heon nodded in agreement.
——“Perhaps because your pheromones are present in his body, he no longer triggers that sense of discomfort in you. Your own pheromone scent may be overpowering that aversion. Because it’s familiar. Humans tend to feel safer around things they’re familiar with. However, this is only a hypothesis. Still, at present, it’s the most likely possibility.”
“That does make some sense.”
“The only way to know for sure is through testing and continuous observation. I’ll also look into whether there have been any similar cases overseas. Since you’re already here, you should probably take the pheromone response test as well. And schedule a psychological consultation while you’re at it. Baek Eun Woo will probably need some time to finish his IV infusion too.”
The pheromone response test would take at least an hour. Was it really necessary to go this far?
Ju Heon wasn’t particularly comfortable with the thought of lying on a bed where he had no idea who had been before him and leaving himself in someone else’s hands while unconscious. Even if the test might not help uncover the cause, he hesitated.
But if he had data on himself, he could compare it with Eun Woo’s pheromone characteristics later whenever necessary. When he looked at it that way, it wasn’t such a bad idea. You are reading on novelping(.)com, the official source.
After making up his mind, Ju Heon sent Eun Woo a brief message and told him that he would be undergoing the test.
…………………………….
I had originally only intended to get a vitamin injection, but they also gave me a pheromone stabilizer. Apparently, it was suitable for someone like me who had become increasingly sensitive to other people’s alpha pheromones. The doctor said that after the injection, the alpha pheromone scents that normally smelled like garbage to me would become less intense.
My stomach had been particularly sensitive lately, so I really hoped it would work.
[Director, I’ll wait for you at the café on the first floor.]
Since I was waiting for the Director, who said he would be coming down a little later because he had a test to complete, I went downstairs to the café I’d noticed on my way up.
After crossing the crowded lobby, I found the café near the rear entrance. Although it was located inside the hospital, it had been decorated quite prettily.
Perhaps they wanted to create an atmosphere different from the coldness of a hospital?
I stood in front of the menu board, covered in adorable lettering and drawings, and began wondering what I should drink.
“Baby, help Daddy choose a drink. Should we have green grape juice or mango juice? Huh? You want both?”
At times like this, a baby really was the perfect excuse.
It wasn’t me. The baby wanted them.
So naturally, I had to order both so the baby could taste both flavors.
Remembering the rapid thumping of the baby’s heartbeat earlier, I gently rubbed my stomach.
In the end, I ordered both drinks and sipped them leisurely.
I was in an incredibly good mood thanks to the delicious drinks and was happily waiting for the Director when…
—“Excuse me, can I ask you something…?”
“Yes?”
In a place where I didn’t know anyone, someone suddenly approached me.
“Baek Eun Woo? Are you Eun Woo?”