Chapter 13: A Fateful Encounter

In the conference room, two employees from the PR team and two from a competitor were already seated.

The thought, ‘Shouldn’t we have come early to practice our presentation too?’ flashed through Noah’s mind, but in the end, the team leader was responsible.

If there were any mistakes, he would just have to stand by and repeatedly say, “I’m sorry.”

Having come to this simple conclusion, Noah stopped thinking.

“The reason we’ve decided to select a new company this time is…”

The PR team leader began with a greeting and a brief explanation of the magazine’s new direction.

It was all information from the proposal, so there was nothing out of the ordinary.

The two hotel employees who would be working with them if they were selected also seemed unremarkable.

“Um, Team Leader.”

The hotel’s PR team assistant manager whispered something to the team leader.

It must have been an urgent matter, because the team leader’s face suddenly darkened.

“Ah… our director, who has recently joined us, has just informed us that he will be attending today’s meeting. He said he’ll be here in five minutes, so we would appreciate it if you could wait for a moment.”

At the PR team leader’s words, the atmosphere in the room, except for Noah’s, became unsettled.

It was obvious that Team Leader Choi, sitting next to him, was cursing inwardly.

Click.

The translucent glass door of the conference room opened, and two men entered.

Noah was watching the newcomers without much thought when his breath caught in his throat at the sight of the man who entered second.

An Alpha’s presence.

Noah thought he had seen his fair share of Alphas in his life, but this was the first time he had met someone who exuded such a strong Alpha aura from their entire being.

His cool expression was so intimidating that you felt you would get hurt if you met his eyes, but the features within that cold impression were a perfect sculpture, worthy of admiration.

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t become a celebrity.’

If he had debuted relying on his face alone, without any talent, and had met a face like that, he would have retired on the spot.

He looked around and saw that everyone else seemed to have a similar impression, as they were all staring blankly.

Relieved that it wasn’t just him, Noah looked at the man again.

He was handsome from any angle, and his body was incredible.

He had the physique of an athlete who could be put in a tracksuit and sent to compete right away.

It was clear that he was hiding a considerable amount of bulk, but the ratio of his shoulder width to his chest was so perfect that even his suit fit like a work of art.

‘I’m jealous.’

He was admiring a body that any man would envy when their eyes suddenly met.

Hah… Was I staring too obviously?

He glanced around and saw that several people in the conference room were looking at him.

The PR team leader’s face was slack-jawed, and one of the people from the other company was clicking their tongue at Noah.

‘What’s going on?’

The man who had just entered was staring at Noah without even taking a seat.

His gaze was murderous, as if he wanted to eat him alive, and yet…

While he was bewildered, Team Leader Choi, sitting next to him, nudged him and whispered.

“Noah-ssi… your pheromones are leaking. Go out and get it under control. I’ll take care of things here.”

“…”

No way.

Only after hearing the team leader’s words did he realize his pheromones were leaking into the air.

He finally understood the reason for the stares.

I definitely took my medicine, so why isn’t it working?

His mind was a mess, but he had no time to hesitate.

As he apologized and made his way out, the eyes of the man who was still standing there like a fixture followed him.

‘Ugh… I made a scene. What do I do?’

He couldn’t afford to waste time fumbling around after leaking his pheromones in someone else’s company, so he decided to head for the exit for now.

He would go to the restroom to calm down, and if that didn’t work, he would have to call a taxi and go to the hospital immediately.

“Are you alright?”

Suddenly, a deep, low voice that seemed to bind his body reached him.

He didn’t need to turn around to know.

It was definitely the Alpha who had entered the conference room.

The chilling sensation he got from just his voice was similar to when he had first encountered him.

And he realized.

For some reason, it seemed he couldn’t control his pheromones because of this man.

“…Ah.”

Why did he follow me?

His mind, frozen in a panic, couldn’t even manage a proper answer to the question of whether he was okay.

He was probably just a well-mannered person looking out for a guest, but his body was frozen to the spot as if it were tied down, and his mind was completely blank.

“Um, uh… that is…”

Was I always this stupid?

At the moment when he should have been moving his feet, either to ask for help or to get away from this place quickly, Noah couldn’t take his eyes off the Alpha’s face.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

The cool, desolate aura he had when he entered the conference room was gone.

He had an expression as if he felt extremely sorry for him for his sudden departure.

Looking closely, his eyes were even slightly red.

“Director.”

An individual who seemed to be a subordinate called out to the man, breaking their ambiguous standoff.

The man, reacting to the call, noticed that several office employees were looking in their direction and wiped his face in a troubled manner.

“It seems you need a place to rest for a moment. Please come this way.”

The man, who had whispered something to his secretary, guided Noah.

He had thought they were going to the exit, but instead, they headed deeper into the office.

He thought that the place this man was leading him to would be safer than a restroom where anyone could walk in at any time.

He was a client, and he had his secretary with him, so nothing would happen, right?

First of all, his reaction was different from that of other Alphas who had smelled his pheromones.

He wasn’t staring blankly with glazed-over eyes or openly expressing his arousal.

Most importantly, it was a relief that he didn’t immediately accuse him of intentionally leaking his pheromones.

“This is the executive-only elevator.”

The man’s secretary pressed the button for the 8th floor.

The elevator doors closed, leaving the three of them in the small space.

During the short ride from the 3rd-floor office to the 8th floor, Noah couldn’t get his senses together.

He struggled to suppress his pheromones, but it wasn’t easy.

Perhaps because they were in the small, enclosed space of the elevator, his pheromones leaked out even faster.

He was so focused on his failing pheromone control that he didn’t even notice the man staring intently at him.

“This way, please.”

The floor they got off on was a regular guest room floor.

Following the man’s lead down the hallway, they found a hotel employee in uniform waiting for them.

He bowed silently, handed the man a card key, and then quickly disappeared.

The man opened the door himself and gestured for Noah to enter.

“Please rest here for a moment. If you have any problems, please contact me here.”

The man took out a small case from his pocket and handed a business card to Noah.

As soon as Noah took the card, the man left the room without delay.

Lee Hanjoo.

He was the director in charge of the hotel’s planning, marketing, and public relations.

It didn’t seem like a position that would allow him to be idle enough to personally extend such excessive courtesy to an employee of a mere business partner.

“Noblesse oblige, or something like that.”

Once the man left and he was alone, he felt much more at ease.

He sent a text to the team leader apologizing, then collapsed onto the neatly made bed to catch his breath.

As he did, he felt his pheromones gradually coming under control.

It seemed that that unknown Alpha was indeed the cause of it all.

“Second time. Here.”

Noah blinked and murmured as if lost in nostalgia.

The room, which had recently undergone a major renovation, had a much more modern and sophisticated atmosphere than he remembered, but he felt that he had liked the atmosphere of the old room, which he could barely recall, better.

“I conceived Peanut here.”

The presentation, heat cycle, and pregnancy had all come like an accident.

Noah only remembered that night through the images he had seen in his dreams, and since he had no realistic sense of having had sexual intercourse, he would sometimes have the absurd delusion that he had conceived through the Holy Spirit.

Chuckling at his silly thoughts and rubbing his stomach, Noah got up from his seat.

After a short rest, his pheromones were completely under control.

Just in case, he took out the pheromone deodorant he had brought with him and generously sprayed it here and there, including on his clothes.

He thought he could probably go back, but it seemed like a nuisance to enter in the middle of a presentation.

And even more so if that man was still in the conference room.

He sent a text to the team leader asking her to contact him when the meeting was over, and just then, there was a knock on the door.

Who is it?

Noah went to the door and opened it wide.

The handsome man standing in front of the door frowned.

“Ah, Director.”

“You open the door without even checking who it is… Never mind. Are you alright?”

“Haha… As long as it’s not you, Director.”

“What?”

Noah naturally took a step back and gave a hand signal for him to not come closer.

The man looked at the Omega, who was making strange gestures, with a bewildered expression.

In his eyes, the Omega, who was flailing his arms in a strange way, looked very odd.

When he took a step into the room, Noah exclaimed, “Uh, uh!” and crossed his arms in an X.

“Is it because of the pheromones?”

Hanjoo asked, looking at his Omega, who was acting strangely.

It was only natural for his pheromones to leak out when he met his imprinted Alpha, but it seemed his Omega was a bit lacking in common sense.

He had found it very strange earlier in the conference room when he realized that others were also reacting to his Omega’s pheromones, which had been released in response to him.

But the most important thing to Hanjoo was the fact that this Omega had reacted to him immediately upon meeting him.

“I’m fine, so please don’t worry.”

Saying he was fine was just to reassure the Omega.

In reality, Hanjoo felt like he was going to faint from smelling Noah’s pheromones.

His heart, which had not beaten for four years, was beating again, and he felt like his blood was flowing.

All the senses in his body began to run wild as if they had regained their vitality.

It was a moment that proved, in every detail, that he had been alive but not living all this time.