Chapter 35: The Origin of the Chain

“f*ck, this is actually hilarious. Hey, look at me. I’m the one who saved you.”

“…Uh, yeah….”

“Get it together.”

Looking down at Yunhwan’s trembling cheek, Seonghye gripped his shoulder with an effortless strength. As that familiar, overwhelming grip returned—the one that had always kept Yunhwan off-balance—Yunhwan’s expression instantly froze.

“Why are you wasting your concern on that shadow? If you act like this, it makes my effort to save you—nearly cracking my skull open—feel like a total waste.”

“Ah, that—”

“It’s driving me crazy. I’m genuinely upset.”

He tapped Yunhwan’s cheek lightly. Paradoxically, that arrogant touch helped Yunhwan’s confused mind snap back into place.

“…Seonghye-ya.”

The hollow look in Yunhwan’s eyes regained its focus. This was no time to be dazed. Wriggling his waist in Seonghye’s grasp, Yunhwan thought of one person. He had to contact Junseong immediately. Since Seonghye was currently imprinted on him after the memory loss, he needed Junseong to explain the medical implications…

Just as Yunhwan took a sharp breath to speak, Seonghye leaned in.

“Hey.”

The word pierced his ear, and Yunhwan’s entire body went rigid.

“I found out I imprinted on you.”

“…!”

Yunhwan’s pupils dilated uncontrollably. As his fingertips trembled and slipped against Seonghye’s forearm, Seonghye let out a low, mocking laugh.

“Man, that ‘other guy’ moved fast. Thanks to that prick, one of us almost became a gigolo and the other almost became a boyfriend.”

“…No, no. That’s not—”

“I already know the facts. No need to explain.”

“…….”

Silence usually implies consent, but for Yunhwan in this moment, it was purely a state of shock. Seonghye began to caress Yunhwan’s neck gently, whispering into his ear.

“Still, Kwon Yunhwan. Good job.”

His fingers slid up the nape of Yunhwan’s neck, tugging playfully on his earlobe.

“If you had actually slept with that bastard, I would have truly lost my mind. Luckily, you didn’t, so I’m keeping my temper.”

“That didn’t happen! Why would I with you—! No, wait.”

Recalling the past few weeks, Yunhwan’s voice cracked pathetically. In the darkness, his eyes scanned the face inches from his own.

Seonghye had regained his memories. Did this mean the green light was on for his recovery? Yunhwan’s expression was a mask of confusion. He wanted to regain his composure, but with this version of Min Seonghye in front of him, it was impossible.

Still caught between shock and disbelief, Yunhwan blurted out his words.

“Listen to me first. Min Seonghye, right now you’re undergoing treatment. It’s pheromone therapy… they said your pheromones need to stabilize for you to get healthy. That’s why you came back down here.”

“I came down here for some pathetic treatment?”

“…Yes.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Seonghye’s hand, which had been stroking his neck, suddenly clamped over Yunhwan’s mouth.

“Yunhwan-ah, Yunhwan-ah. Are you lying to me right now just to break the imprint?”

Seonghye’s eyes glowed with a predatory reddish tint. As Yunhwan’s panicked gaze darted back and forth, the pressure on his mouth increased.

“Did he say he hated being imprinted on you? No way. That bastard was thinking of nothing but how to eat you alive.”

“Mmph… mm!”

“This is what happens when you take someone in and treat them with kindness without thinking.”

Seonghye glared at him through gritted teeth.

“The one who saved you was me. And the one you saved was also me.”

“…!”

“Then you should have only taken me in. You should have waited until I found my way back to you. Instead, you let in a stray dog that wagged its tail at your every word.”

When he finally removed his hand, Yunhwan’s jaw felt bruised. He gasped for air through parted lips.

“What… what are you talking about?”

“So that’s how you’re going to play it?”

In that instant, Min Seonghye bit into the crook of his neck. His lips slammed into the skin without warning, scattering hot breath against Yunhwan’s throat. As Yunhwan instinctively curled inward and tried to push Seonghye’s chest away, Seonghye bit down harder on the sucked skin.

“…Ah, ugh—!”

The raw, carnal contact sent a jolt through Yunhwan. Seonghye chuckled low as his hand slid down Yunhwan’s back.

“Someone would think I’d actually put it in already, Yunhwan-ah.”

“Hey, stop…!”

Seonghye buried his face deeper into Yunhwan’s neck. He licked and rubbed the tanned skin with his tongue before sucking forcefully, making a wet sound. From Yunhwan’s tension-stiffened body came a sweet scent—like skin soaked in honey—that made Seonghye want to devour him whole.

How can a man who isn’t an Omega smell like this? Seonghye breathed out feverishly, pulling the struggling body closer.

His restored mind absorbed the situation like a sponge. What he sensed included a supernatural connection that science couldn’t explain. The imprint.

“Haah….”

Just by hugging him and rubbing his lips against him, a tingling current surged through his entire body. Seonghye swallowed hard, breathing in Yunhwan’s scent like a beast. It felt as though someone were squeezing his heart. It didn’t hurt; rather, it made him want to thrust something inside him immediately.

And the thing he needed to fill was right in front of him.

“Yunhwan-ah.”

A hot hand invaded the space under Yunhwan’s T-shirt.

Tracing his firm abdominals, the hand moved upward and stopped—as if by design—on the space between Yunhwan’s right shoulder and chest. Exactly where Yunhwan’s burn scar was located.

Pulling his lips away from Yunhwan’s neck, Seonghye smiled thinly.

“I have no intention of sharing you with anyone.”

The already broken USB drive fell from Seonghye’s hand to the floor. Yunhwan’s eyes followed it down, only to be snapped back up by the voice near his cheek.

“I’m the one who found you first. It’s only natural.”

As the monologue of questions and answers continued, Yunhwan’s face turned deathly pale. Was Seonghye always this kind of person before the memory loss? While confusion swirled in his head, a muffled groan escaped his constricted throat.

Seonghye’s hand had gripped the twisted, scarred flesh of the burn with crushing force.

“Does it hurt?”

“L-let go.”

“Well, f*ck, of course it hurts when I touch you like this.”

Seonghye sneered. His fingers dug into the skin before relaxing into a soft, repetitive caress. Yunhwan’s pupils shook.

“The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off. Who did that bastard think he was to you?”

“…….”

“Think about it. He sat down at a table I set and just picked up a spoon. Do you think I’d just watch that happen?”

Yunhwan bit his lip as the skin was pushed and pulled under those fingertips. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t move. Those fortress-like shoulders never budged, and the rock-solid body leaned more weight into him.

Even as breathing became difficult, something else tormented Yunhwan more. Seonghye’s voice—claiming to have “found” him—was digging up buried memories.

The past he was forced to face through Seonghye was a thing that, no matter how deep he buried it, would crawl out of the earth the moment he turned his back. To Yunhwan, the past wasn’t just a time that had passed. It was a shackle he had to carry for a lifetime—perhaps until death.

Feeling as though the ground were falling away beneath his feet, Yunhwan lowered his head. Something began to crawl up from his toes. It was a memory from long ago, one he had fought desperately to forget.

Three years ago, Hong Kong.

The grotesquely towering skyscrapers resembled a massive prison. Even in broad daylight, no light reached the lower levels, forcing residents to carry lanterns. In areas where even lanterns weren’t allowed, one had to navigate by touch and instinct.

Illegal gambling dens, bars, and brothels where kidnapped Omegas and Alphas waited for customers under red lights filled the floors. This was the so-called “Abandoned Zone.” Consequently, most visitors were criminals or self-proclaimed “businessmen” involved in unethical trades.

From the 5th basement level to the 30th floor, the air was thick with a specific stench. The scent was strongest at B5: the Illegal Exchange.

With not a single thread of light, entry was impossible without a lantern. The entire floor was a marketplace. Within it were about thirty curtained cages on each side, and shockingly, each one held a person.

People were moved in and out at intervals ranging from one to seven days. This was the headquarters for an international human trafficking ring and a warehouse for their “goods.” However, their products had a strict condition: they had to be “Traitors”—those possessing Alpha or Omega traits.

They sourced them in various ways. In Korea, Japan, and China, the primary targets were those who couldn’t pay their debts and came to work off their balance. In other countries, people meeting the exchange’s specific criteria were simply kidnapped and dragged there.