Chapter 52: First Crack in The Truth

Life with Han-geon was satisfying, exactly as he had expected.
There wasn’t a single thing that rubbed him the wrong way.
Since they were young, Choi Han-geon had had an uncanny ability to read his moods and condition, and whenever possible, he never did anything that would upset him.
At the same time, he moved diligently, always trying to be of even a little more help.
Watching him bustle around like that, despite his large frame, was both endearing and commendable.

Ironically, it was only after being with Choi Han-geon that he truly realized just how stressful it had been to constantly clash with people he couldn’t trust.
All the time he had spent forcing himself to get along with incompatible people before felt like nothing but an enormous waste of energy.
Being able to focus solely on his schedule and his rest, without worry, felt almost surreal.
He had expected it to be good, but having someone he could trust one hundred percent managing his schedule exceeded his imagination.

He knew very well that this sense of comfort wasn’t simply because he’d spent a long time with him.
Time alone wasn’t enough to make someone feel as natural as the tongue inside one’s mouth around another person.
Rather than the length of time, it was likely the quality of the feelings Han-geon had carried throughout those years.
Choi Han-geon had always wanted to know more about him, watched him with sharpened attention, and yearned for him alone.

However, Han-geon’s feelings didn’t come across to Eun-gyeol as mere convenience.
Choi Han-geon wasn’t good at lying.
With how much time they spent together, emotions that overflowed visibly couldn’t possibly be contained by his hands alone.

He had no choice but to witness them.
Feelings that Han-geon himself never wanted to show, and that Eun-gyeol didn’t particularly want to know in depth.
Countless times—truly countless times—Han-geon revealed his heart.
By “mistake.”

To be honest, those mistakes weren’t unpleasant to look at.
Sometimes, despite the fact that he was a grown man, he even seemed a little cute.
Like when he secretly sniffed Eun-gyeol’s workout clothes while he was showering, or when he jumped in shock and adamantly refused, saying he’d rather die than shower together.

Even as he exposed his insides so clumsily, Han-geon stubbornly insisted on keeping up a pitifully flimsy wall to the very end.
He tried hard to stay within the line.
Because of that, Eun-gyeol was willing to pretend not to notice Han-geon’s “mistakes.”
Indefinitely.

But one night, Choi Han-geon acted rather bravely.

He finally brought up the subject of rut, which they had tacitly avoided mentioning.
Even as he asked how Eun-gyeol handled it, his face looked like he might drop dead the moment he heard the answer.
Seeing that vacant expression, what answer could Eun-gyeol possibly have given him?

So he simply changed the subject.
When he asked why Han-geon had been sniffing his clothes earlier, Han-geon rambled with a face on the verge of exploding, saying he was curious about his pheromones.
Watching him, Eun-gyeol laughed a little to himself.

Suddenly, he found it oddly fascinating.
Han-geon liked him this much, yet couldn’t actually smell his pheromones.

For the first time, he held onto Choi Han-geon and released his pheromones.
They were so concentrated that even a small amount usually left omegas with dazed expressions, soaking wet between the legs.
But, as expected, Choi Han-geon showed no reaction at all.

It was the first time he had done something as ridiculous as releasing pheromones to a beta.
Yet seeing Han-geon blink blankly, not even knowing what was being done to him, made him want to release a much larger amount.

So he did.
Choi Han-geon still looked bewildered.
And yet, for some reason, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up inside him.
Watching that face, blinking without any reaction, made his lower abdomen throb with pleasure.

“Sleep well.”
“Mm, you too.”

‘Han-geon, if you went near an omega right now, they’d think you were an alpha and spread their legs immediately.’

The fact that Han-geon was drenched in his pheromones to that extent made him feel inexplicably good.
So Eun-gyeol swallowed the joke that didn’t need to be said out loud and quietly closed his eyes.

***

Filming also began smoothly.
They were satisfying days.
Once shooting got into full swing, Eun-gyeol was able to stay closer to Choi Han-geon than ever before.

Whenever he casually turned his gaze while working, Choi Han-geon was always looking at him.
With an expression so tense it was as if he were the one being filmed.
The person reflected in those anxious eyes was always Cha Eun-gyeol alone.
Seeing that gaze naturally made him want to work harder.

Everything was good.
Except for one bastard who had recently been sticking close, whining and scattering ashes everywhere.

Yoo Junseong was relentless, clinging on tirelessly.
This time as well, he seemed to be planning to use his usual filthy tricks.
With a friendly face, he sidled up to Eun-gyeol’s manager, casually dropping all kinds of words and digging for information.
Several of Eun-gyeol’s former managers had quit thanks to Yoo Junseong’s handiwork, so he must have found it quite gratifying.

To be honest, up until now, Eun-gyeol hadn’t really cared whether Yoo Junseong latched onto other idiots or not.
What they could do was limited anyway.
At best, they’d wag their fingers online and write a few dirty comments.
His filmography wasn’t flimsy enough to be damaged by something like that.

He let it be, while steadily gathering evidence.
Without the CEO or chief manager knowing, he quietly employed someone.
They secretly met with former managers, gently coaxed them, and recorded their statements, and also traced the sources of the malicious rumors that cropped up periodically.
The evidence gradually converged on a single source.

In the process, he even caught a welcome incident, like a gift.
Yoo Junseong’s hidden Achilles’ heel.
Still, Eun-gyeol simply collected that precious information in silence.
There was no reason to exert himself just yet.
Up until then, no matter what Yoo Junseong did, he was no more annoying than a neighborhood dog barking.

But seeing Yoo Junseong hitting on Choi Han-geon stirred a strange anger he had never felt before.

Part of it was because Choi Han-geon was incomparable to the many managers who had been hired and fired until now.
But what truly slammed Eun-gyeol’s mood into the mud was Yoo Junseong’s preference—rumored here and there, and confirmed firsthand during the investigation.
That he was a beta who liked men.
And not just any men, but sturdy, handsome types like Han-geon.

He didn’t know why it made him so angry.
He just couldn’t stand the sight of it.
Whether that bastard liked men or not was none of his business, but messing with what belonged to him was unforgivable.

The problem was that Choi Han-geon’s temperament was far too soft.
Even when Yoo Junseong clung to him persistently and annoyed him, he couldn’t push him away harshly.
Seeing him caught in between, flustered and watching both of them nervously—
Watching Yoo Junseong put on a pitiful act and cling to him made Eun-gyeol feel like vomiting.

“…Eun-gyeol.”

On top of that—damn it all—he even used their private form of address.
With a wretched, desperate face, just to stop Eun-gyeol from fighting with Yoo Junseong over something so trivial.
After stopping him like that, Choi Han-geon then sat beside him and ate, chatting amicably with Yoo Junseong.

The moment he saw that, rage exploded inside him.
Red heat boiled up until he couldn’t endure it.
Summoning every ounce of self-control, he grabbed Choi Han-geon by the wrist instead of smashing a plate into Yoo Junseong’s face, and dragged him out to the hotel.

Then he threw Choi Han-geon onto the bed.
Watching him tumble onto it without resistance, blinking in confusion despite his large frame, Eun-gyeol’s thoughts came to a halt.
Suddenly, heat pooled intensely below his waist.
An inexplicable lust surged violently.

…What is this?

He almost got hard.
He couldn’t tell why this was happening or what caused it, but the feeling was unmistakably clear and intense.

The boiling confusion swept over him like a vortex.
He had no idea what this unfamiliar emotion was or how to explain it.
So he simply stared down at Choi Han-geon as if he wanted to kill him.

Han-geon, though bewildered, met his gaze steadily, eyes trembling faintly.
True to his nature, there was no pretense in his expression.
What filled it was nothing but concern for Eun-gyeol.
As a loyal manager, and as a friend, his only thought was how to deal with the aftermath of Eun-gyeol’s outburst.

Seeing that face made an unknown fury churn inside him.
Without hesitation, he drenched Choi Han-geon in pheromones.
Relentlessly, heavily—almost as if he were marking him, no, branding him.
He wanted to make sure Yoo Junseong would never dare come near him again.
The experience he’d had at Han-geon’s place proved useful.
The first time was unfamiliar, but the second was easy.

From then on, throughout filming, he kept coating Han-geon’s body in pheromones.
Every morning when they woke up, or out of habit before going to sleep, he did it.
Choi Han-geon continued to behave meekly, with a face that knew nothing.
Even as his ears reddened and he avoided eye contact, he didn’t pull away when Eun-gyeol reached out and took his wrist.

***

The change crept in quietly, in sync with his damned rut cycle.

Of course, every time his rut approached, he had experienced unwelcome changes before.
But they were mostly nervous ones.
His words and behavior grew sharp, his mood sank, and that was all.

He had never felt such a damp, oppressive desire before.
Unexplainable sexual urges surged up again and again.
His body burned to an absurd degree.
But what truly unsettled him wasn’t that—it was the target.

When he woke up in the morning, he kept pulling Choi Han-geon by the wrist and making him sit down.
The same thing happened right before bed at night.
It wasn’t that he did anything special to him.
He simply sat him on his bed and repeatedly, obsessively carried out what he “did every day.”

From head to toe, he meticulously soaked him in pheromones.
Because seeing Han-geon look down at him gently, greeting him good morning or good night without even knowing what was being done to him, felt good.
As a bonus, it was satisfying to see Yoo Junseong scowl.

But the strange change that had come over Eun-gyeol threatened to shake even this pleasant routine.
The more pheromones he released onto Han-geon, the more the heat built up inside him instead of dissipating.
This rut cycle was fucked up from the start—unusually strange and excessive, even before it had properly begun.