Chapter 101: Just the Two of Us, the Gate, and the Rut

I slid my knees under Jaeyul’s collapsing head to support it.

He was unconscious and his breathing was abnormally loud, but the fact that he was breathing meant it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

“Jaeyul-ah, Seon Jaeyul!”

Even when I tapped his face and shoulders lightly, there was no response.

To make matters worse, a scorching heat was transmitted from my hand touching Jaeyul.

Why hadn’t I noticed his condition until now?

No.

Looking back, Jaeyul’s condition might have been poor from the moment we first met today.

Unlike usual, his voice was heavy and subdued, and his expression was stiff.

I had thought it was just because he was surprised by the unexpected situation… but it seems he wasn’t feeling well.

Looking at Jaeyul’s current state, I didn’t think I could even treat him, which made my self-blame even worse.

I don’t know why I didn’t notice sooner.

There were mountains of monster corpses inside the gate, so I could probably get as much Petra as I wanted.

But even that panacea was useless at this moment.

“Why all of a sudden….”

A rut.

Such a sudden rut.

No.

It couldn’t have come on so suddenly.

As a dominant alpha, there must have been warning signs for several days.

There was a high probability that the symptoms had started when he entered the SS-rank gate, and perhaps… Jaeyul, after finishing the subjugation, had gone straight to the hospital to receive pheromone stabilization treatment.

And then he had come here before the rut was even over.

“Ah, ugh…!”

In a short time, Jaeyul was sweating so much that his hair was drenched.

On top of that, he was letting out pained groans, which made my mind go completely blank.

I had only seen an alpha in rut twice in my life.

Eighteen-year-old Jaeyul and the Jaeyul of now.

Thinking that I couldn’t just go to the hospital like last time, I couldn’t come up with a plan for what to do next.

What on earth am I supposed to do with an alpha in rut!

“Poppy!

Swallow Jaeyul!”

I asked for help from Poppy, who was looking at us with a worried expression from the side.

Wouldn’t it be possible to move Jaeyul by putting him in Poppy’s stomach, which is like a magic pouch?

I don’t know what the inside is like, but it wasn’t the first time Poppy had eaten Jaeyul, so it should be fine.

“Woof, woof!”

I thought it was a pretty good plan, but Poppy shook his head and opposed my opinion.

“Ah… that could be a problem….”

Putting him in his stomach for a short time might be fine, but it would be difficult for a long time.

I couldn’t be sure how long it would take to get out of the gate.

If we were lucky, a day; if it took longer, several days.

If we were unluckier… there was a high possibility that we couldn’t get out at all.

And in that time, Jaeyul’s condition would only get worse.

If we stay here, I can at least cool his fever with cold water and sate our hunger with the surrounding herbs and plants.

In contrast, if he’s in Poppy’s stomach, it would be impossible to even check his condition.

It was such an obvious thing, but I was so flustered that I hadn’t even thought of it until Poppy told me.

“…This is driving me crazy….”

It seemed like we had to stay here… but there was a big problem.

The pheromones spreading from Jaeyul are too strong.

It feels like the pheromones that come in with every breath are steadily accumulating in my body.

“Kweck…!”

Our Poppy is truly amazing.

When Poppy opened his maw and made a loud noise as if he were vomiting, all sorts of things poured out in front of him.

I could only stare at the scene, dumbfounded.

“…Why is a sleeping bag coming out…?

You can’t even fit in there?”

“Woof!”

Poppy avoided my gaze and pretended he couldn’t understand me again.

Well… let’s just let such a trivial matter slide.

I don’t think I would be surprised anymore even if Poppy were actually a person.

“A burner… a frying pan, and there’s even beef…?”

It was astounding.

The things that poured out of Poppy’s stomach were enough to rival the contents of a whole house.

At any other time, I would have scolded him for eating so much, but right now, I was just so grateful.

I didn’t even have a single common towel, so I was wondering if I should soak his clothes in water and put them on Jaeyul’s head, but thanks to Poppy, it seemed I could nurse him properly.

Though I don’t know why a creature with no hands would pack something like a toothbrush.

“By any chance… do you have any pheromone stabilizers…?”

“Hmph….”

“Why are you looking at me so pathetically!

I-I was just asking just in case, you know?”

I don’t know how I ended up in a situation where I’m getting a pathetic look from a creature like this.

There were all sorts of medicines, so I just asked just in case.

“Haah… that aside, what do we do about Jaeyul….”

I had made a wet towel with a towel that came out of Poppy’s mouth and wiped Jaeyul’s body a few times to lower his fever a little.

Thanks to that, he was now lying quietly as if he were asleep.

But I didn’t know when he would suddenly wake up and a situation like before would happen.

The day Jaeyul had lost his mind during his presentation at eighteen and had pounced on me.

The longer we dragged this out, the higher the probability of that happening.

“Grrr….”

I have to make a decision soon.

Whether to quickly search the gate for a passage out, or to take care of Jaeyul here where there’s a water source.

Or… do both.

“Poppy, this won’t do.

You go and look for a path.

I’ll be taking care of Jaeyul.”

I think this is the most realistic method.

I can’t take the risk of taking Jaeyul with me to look for an escape route that may or may not exist.

But I can’t just sit here and waste time either.

So it seemed better for Poppy and me to move separately.

I was a little… worried about being separated from Poppy, but compared to Jaeyul’s life, it’s just a trivial matter.

There were often cases where people were left with lifelong aftereffects from not receiving proper treatment during their rut cycle.

In severe cases, their life could even be in danger.

“Woof!”

“It’s fine, so hurry up and go.”

Poppy kept looking back as he left the cavern at my words.

That kid.

He was so scared of Jaeyul, but it seems he’s worried at times like these.

I watched until Poppy’s back was no longer visible.

But at that moment, a strange sensation swept through my entire body.

My mind snapped to attention as if I had been hit on the back of the head, and yet, at the same time, the tension in my whole body was released, and my mind became so languid that I felt like I would collapse.

It felt like I had drunk a lot of pleasantly sweet liquor.

Splash.

Then, a splashing sound was heard from the lake that should have been peaceful.

I naturally turned my body towards the sound.

I was sure I had moved my body at a normal speed, but it felt as if only my time was flowing slowly, and I was moving sluggishly.

My gaze first landed on the place where Jaeyul had been lying.

But on the empty spot, only a wet towel was left, and Jaeyul was nowhere to be seen.

“…Jaeyul-ah?”

For a moment, I felt my heart drop at the sudden situation, but as I turned my head a little, I was able to find Jaeyul.

“What are you doing there…?”

It seemed the splashing sound was made by Jaeyul.

The kid who hadn’t been conscious was standing stock-still in the middle of the peacefully still lake.

Jaeyul, submerged up to his chest in water, gave no answer, as if my voice hadn’t reached him.

I had taken off his shirt, so his condition might worsen if he stayed in the cold water for a long time.

On top of that, I didn’t even know why he had suddenly gone into the water.

I didn’t know if it would be possible, but I had no choice but to enter the lake myself to bring him out.

Even as I gradually closed the distance, Jaeyul remained motionless, like a stone statue.

The closer I got, the faster my heart beat, making it difficult to move.

I was breathing, but I was out of breath, and my two legs struggled to even part the water.

Even though I knew that all these abnormal reactions were because of Jaeyul’s pheromones, I had no choice but to get closer.

“Let’s go out.

The water is cold, you’ll catch a cold.”

After composing myself as much as possible, I opened my mouth.

As I spoke and touched Jaeyul’s body, I felt a scorching heat, the complete opposite of the water temperature.

His sudden jump into the water, and sensing that the situation was not normal, I forcibly pulled Jaeyul’s arm and turned him around.

It was at that moment.

Whoosh!

Unable to withstand the force of Jaeyul suddenly pushing me, my body was submerged in the water.

No, I was sucked into the water with Jaeyul.

I flailed in panic, trying to get back to the surface, but it was impossible because of the heat that was wrapped around my waist.

Knowing that the more I struggled, the shorter my time to hold my breath would be, I tried my best not to panic and looked at Jaeyul in the water.

To try and figure out the reason for his sudden action.

Through the transparent water, Jaeyul, unlike me, had a peaceful expression, as if he were outside the water.

A face so normal that I wondered if he was really in rut.

The warm gaze, as usual, the corners of his mouth that seemed to be slightly smiling.

Even the hands that supported my waist as if to trap me.

Everything was the Seon Jaeyul I knew.

If, that is, Jaeyul’s lips hadn’t descended onto mine, I would have really believed he was in his right mind.