Chapter 59

Before he knew it, after weeping uncontrollably throughout the ride, the taxi pulled up in front of the hospital. Rian sprinted straight into the emergency room he had been directed to earlier. Having sobbed so violently, his fair, delicate cheeks were completely stained with tears.

“Hyung… hyuuung….” Rian whimpered, his voice trembling with sobs.

He could not stop crying. The tears he had barely managed to swallow down inside the taxi spilled over afresh the instant he crossed the hospital threshold.

What if something terrible happened to hyung? What if I’m left all alone in the world again…? I should have listened when hyung told me not to go.

Rian blamed himself bitterly, convinced that all of this happened because foolish desires had gotten into his head and made him greedy for things he shouldn’t have wanted.

“Excuse me… Where is Yu-gyeom, Yu-gyeom hyung?” Rian begged the staff, trembling all over. “I got a call saying my hyung was brought in here!”

Choked by tears, his words fragmented incoherently. Paralyzed by terror, his fingertips had turned icy cold and trembled uncontrollably. A nurse pointed toward the far end of the emergency room.

“He’s over that way,” the nurse said gently. “You’re his guardian, right?”

“Yes, yes, that’s me!” Rian gasped.

Rian sprinted frantically in the direction the nurse had pointed. In that breathless moment, the tears he had briefly held back burst out once more.

“What do I do…? Hyuuung…” Rian wept brokenly.

Terrified that he would not be able to bear whatever scene awaited him, Rian slumped in front of the privacy curtain, tears dripping from his chin onto the floor. The onlookers in the emergency ward watched him with sympathetic eyes.

“Oh dear, how awful. Did someone pass away?” an elderly patient murmured.

Another person chimed in, “Must be family of the patient brought in a few hours ago.”

“Ah, that tall, handsome young man who was an Alpha?” a bystander asked.

Someone whispered in the crowd, “Look at how pretty that boy is, though. An Omega, perhaps? Are they a married couple?”

Amidst the murmuring crowd, only the words tall Alpha pierced through the fog in Rian’s ears.

That’s right. It has to be hyung.

Looking up at the curtain with an expression of deepening despair, Rian knew he had to face reality. I have to stay strong. No matter how badly hurt hyung is, I won’t waver, and I won’t cry. I’m going to protect hyung.

Just as he braced himself and slowly rose to his feet—

“That pheromone scent,” a familiar voice spoke.

“…” Rian froze, his breath catching in his throat.

“Kwon Rian, did I tell you to keep your pheromones under control or not?” Yu-gyeom asked in a calm, chiding tone.

Rian gave a violent shudder and turned his head. In that instant, all strength deserted his legs, causing him to stumble, but Yu-gyeom—who was supposed to be lying helpless in a bed—reached out and caught Rian firmly by the arm.

“Hyuuung….” Rian sobbed, tears spilling over.

It was not merely Rian’s legs that gave way. In the wake of suffocating terror and despair, a tidal wave of sheer relief crashed through his entire being.

Sniffling through a veil of tears, Rian frantically examined Yu-gyeom’s body as he stood looking down at him, seemingly in one piece.

“…Why are you crying so much over something minor like this? Did you think I was dead?” Yu-gyeom asked gently.

Holding up his cast-wrapped right arm, Yu-gyeom offered a soft, reassuring smile.

“Waaah—!” Rian burst into loud, helpless wails.

Unable to hold back any longer, Rian finally unleashed the sobs he had been bottling up. Only after confirming with his own eyes that Yu-gyeom was safe did Rian bury himself in his embrace, weeping his heart out.

“Oh dear…” Yu-gyeom murmured softly.

This is far more stimulating than I expected.

Shifting slightly so his injured right arm wouldn’t be bumped, Yu-gyeom used his uninjured left hand to gently pat Rian’s back. Rian cried for a long time, weeping so profusely that Yu-gyeom’s shirt became thoroughly soaked with tears.

“I thought you were going to die,” Rian choked out, burying his face in Yu-gyeom’s chest. “I really thought you died!”

“I didn’t die,” Yu-gyeom answered calmly.

“How can you say it like that?! Hic… I was so scared… sob.” Rian sniffled, clutching at his clothes.

“Such a crybaby,” Yu-gyeom teased softly.

“I hate you, hyung, I really do…” Rian mumbled, burying his wet face deeper into the fabric.

Even while saying those words, Rian was eaten alive by remorse on the inside. All throughout the taxi ride here, Kwon Rian had felt so suffocated by guilt that he had wanted to die.

He believed that whatever befell Yu-gyeom was entirely his fault. If he hadn’t insisted on going on that trip, he wouldn’t have caused his brother such needless worry in the first place.

“Reel in your pheromones a little,” Yu-gyeom instructed softly.

“Sniff… Is that really what matters right now…?” Rian protested weakly.

Even though he was the actual patient, Yu-gyeom guided Rian onto the examination bed and patted him soothingly.

“Yes, it matters very much,” Yu-gyeom replied.

Rian nuzzled into the pillows, whining softly, “Why…?”

“This is a manifestants’ emergency ward,” Yu-gyeom pointed out. “You don’t honestly think I’m the only Alpha here, do you?”

“Huh?” Rian blinked up at him, bewildered.

Ah, no wonder. Rian had thought it strange that his body kept growing so limp and heavy. Snapping back to his senses, Rian slowly focused on drawing back his pheromones, just as his brother had taught him.

Because his scent was so thick, Rian could not rein it in entirely, but Yu-gyeom praised him anyway, murmuring that it was much better than before.

Though tears were flowing from his eyes, Rian only now realized that his underwear and trousers had been soaking wet for quite some time.

“So sweet… so very sweet, our Rian,” Yu-gyeom whispered tenderly.

“I’ll never leave your side again, hyung,” Rian vowed earnestly.

* * *

Kwon Rian took a leave of absence from university. Because it was such an abrupt decision, none of his friends ever saw Rian again after that vacation trip.

Taeju, who had harbored hopes of somehow getting his way with Rian, was utterly deflated. Although he had ended up manifesting as a recessive Alpha that night, his lingering regret was that he had never gotten to taste Kwon Rian.

His craving to take Rian just once, by any means necessary, had yet to fade. Ever since his manifestation had fully settled, that desire had only surged more violently.

Rian wouldn’t answer his calls and ignored all his texts. Tormented by a maddening frustration that drove him half out of his mind, Taeju finally sought out Rian’s house a month after Rian took a leave of absence from university.

No matter how long he loitered outside the front door, there was never any sign of life inside, forcing him to turn back empty-handed time and again. Then came this particular day.

“Is he home or not? Fuck, this is driving me out of my goddamn mind,” Taeju muttered under his breath.

It was right then, as he finished his cigarette and turned around while spitting out curses, that something heavy and blunt struck the back of Taeju’s head. Taeju collapsed onto the pavement on the spot.