Chapter 60: A Comfortable Cage

Now he was more or less full.
Han-geon slowly set down the spoon he’d been using to sip the milky broth and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Eun-gyeol had stepped away for a moment with his phone in hand.
The TV rambled on to itself at a low volume.
With nothing better to do, Han-geon stared vacantly out the window.

The weather was dazzlingly nice today as well.
The Seoul cityscape viewed from a massive penthouse was undeniably beautiful.

It had already been three days since they’d started staying together at Eun-gyeol’s place.

At first, Eun-gyeol had insisted they change hotels, saying the room he’d shared with Yoo Junseong was bad luck and he didn’t want to stay there a second longer.
Han-geon refused, saying that since everything had already happened, he didn’t want to be in a hotel anymore either.
Yet somehow, the end result was that they moved—not to another hotel, nor to Han-geon’s place—but to Cha Eun-gyeol’s home.

There had been a decisive reason things turned out that way.
It happened right before checkout, while they were bickering back and forth.
Someone knocked on the door, and when they opened it in surprise, a middle-aged man they’d never seen before was standing there.

“He’s the doctor who checks my pheromones.
The chief manager sent him.”

Eun-gyeol introduced him curtly.
He said he usually got examined by the same doctor once every rut cycle.
The man greeted them politely and strode straight into the room.
Blatant traces of s*x were scattered everywhere, and Han-geon’s face flushed bright red, but the doctor himself looked completely unfazed.

The doctor took out a small device and placed it on the table.
Seeing Han-geon glance over with a puzzled expression, Eun-gyeol explained that it was a portable pheromone meter.
After drawing blood from Eun-gyeol’s arm and feeding it into the device, the doctor’s face showed a hint of surprise as he checked the readings.

“The levels are quite stable.
You look much better too…”

“Yes.”

“It’s a stark contrast compared to your last cycle.
If you don’t mind me asking…”

After measuring the levels two or three more times, the doctor blinked and set the device down on the table.

“Have you perhaps imprinted on someone, or met a new partner… or had relations in a somewhat different mood than before?”

Without answering, Eun-gyeol merely nodded slowly.
The doctor scribbled something rapidly into his notebook, his voice growing animated as he spoke about the meaningful changes in the readings.
But it was what he added at the end that made Han-geon flinch.

“…However, the possibility of shock is still present.”

Shock…?
Han-geon’s heart sank heavily, unlike Eun-gyeol, who listened in silence.
Unable to hold back, Han-geon hurriedly spoke up.

“E-excuse me, doctor.
I’m Cha Eun-gyeol’s new manager.
I’m sorry, but could you explain what you mean by ‘shock’… to me as well?”

“Ah, yes.”

The doctor turned his gaze to Han-geon and began explaining in a calm tone.

“Normally, when an Alpha enters a rut cycle, their pheromone levels rise incomparably higher than usual.
If they have a satisfying relationship with an Omega, those levels drop significantly.
With repeated intercourse, they can maintain a condition similar to their normal state.”

“…Yes.”

“However, if the Alpha is psychologically dissatisfied, the pheromones won’t fully resolve no matter how much they sleep with an Omega.
That has been a chronic issue for Mr. Cha.”

…Psychologically dissatisfied?
Han-geon involuntarily flinched and glanced at Eun-gyeol.
He listened without a change in expression.
Pointing to the complex graph printed out by the device, the doctor continued.

“In the past, you did have relationships with Omega types, but you were in a very psychologically unstable state.
That shows up right here.
But this cycle is an exception—the graph is flipped in the opposite direction.
The psychological aspect was something that hadn’t been resolved for a long time, so from my perspective it was a concern, but seeing it drop is definitely something to welcome.”

“…Yes.”

“However, if you look at this part of the graph, the level is still high.
Without relations with an Omega-type partner, it’s fundamentally difficult to resolve this completely.
Your current partner’s trait is…”

The doctor trailed off and glanced at Eun-gyeol, gauging his reaction.
Eun-gyeol remained silent.
Even Han-geon, who didn’t know much about traits, could tell what the doctor was trying to say.

“Thank you for your hard work.
I appreciate it again this time.”

Eun-gyeol finally spoke.
It was a polite dismissal.
The doctor immediately understood and began packing the measuring device back into his medical bag.

After exchanging bows with Eun-gyeol, the doctor turned to Han-geon this time.

“You must be careful to avoid shock.
If you continue having relations with the same partner during this cycle, you’ll need to do it more frequently than you would with an Omega-type.
Even then, the risk of shock will still remain.”

“…Yes.”

The doctor, who had managed Eun-gyeol’s cycles all this time, didn’t suspect in the slightest that Han-geon himself was the very partner in question.
After listing point by point what Han-geon should take note of as a manager, he left the room.

Eun-gyeol, who had been sitting there blankly, suddenly approached Han-geon.
He grabbed Han-geon’s hand as he stood up to see the doctor off and pulled him close.

“You heard that, right?”

He wrapped an arm around Han-geon’s waist with a sly smile.
Whether Han-geon pushed him away or not, his hands stayed stubborn.

“They said I might go into shock.
So stop spouting bullshit about going home.”

“…I said I’m sick of hotels.
They’re stifling.”

“Then come to my place.”

…And that was how Han-geon ended up sitting on Eun-gyeol’s sofa, eating a steaming bowl of ox bone soup.

On the table were grilled eel, chives, and spicy stir-fried octopus as well.
None of them were dishes Eun-gyeol particularly favored.
Still, perhaps because of what he’d done to Han-geon over the past few days, it was obvious he’d put some thought into the menu.
It was absurd—and a little funny.

Glancing over, Han-geon saw that Eun-gyeol’s bowl was still half full.
The call seemed to be dragging on longer than expected; he wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

Whatever the call was about, it seemed important enough that he kept getting them.
Earlier, Han-geon had briefly caught a glimpse of the caller ID and thought he’d seen the chief manager’s name.
If it really was the chief manager, it had to be something serious.
In that case, shouldn’t the manager—him—know about it too?
He’d asked Eun-gyeol to tell him, but Eun-gyeol had only repeated, “Later.”

When Eun-gyeol finally hung up and came back, he sat across from Han-geon with a refreshed expression.
He took one spoonful of the food in front of him, then set the spoon down without hesitation.

“…It’s cold.
Want me to reheat it?”

“No, it’s fine.
I lost my appetite after getting interrupted.”

“You’ll still be hungry, though.”

“We can order something else later.”

As he listened to Eun-gyeol speak so casually, Han-geon slowly stood up.
When he tried to clear the table, Eun-gyeol reached out and stopped him from getting up.

“It’s fine.
I’ll do it, so just sit.”

“…Why.
Let’s do it together.”

“It’ll be hard for you to get up.
Your back hurts, and down there hurts too, right?”

“…..”

Han-geon glared at him fiercely, irritated by his grin.
But the infuriating Cha Eun-gyeol only chuckled as if it amused him.

Sulking, Han-geon really did just sit there and watch Eun-gyeol clean up.
While he stacked the dishes and put the leftovers into the fridge, Han-geon went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Eun-gyeol followed soon after, and once they finished brushing side by side, they wandered back to the sofa and sat down.

Eun-gyeol suddenly spoke.

“Oh, and the shoot’s been pushed back a week.”

“…What?”

That was completely unexpected.
Han-geon stared at him with wide eyes.

“Why?”

“Well, something came up.
I’ll explain the details later.”

Just like before, Eun-gyeol’s answer was indifferent.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Han-geon started pressing him persistently, unlike his usual self.

“What is it?
What happened?
I’m your manager too—shouldn’t I know?”

“Ha….”

Cha Eun-gyeol narrowed his eyes in annoyance, and only after a long pause did he toss out an answer.

“…Yoo Junseong got hurt.”

“What?
Where?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe he was running his mouth and got beaten up, balls smashed or something.”

No way…
It couldn’t have been Eun-gyeol, right?

Han-geon stared at him blankly, mouth slightly open.
Eun-gyeol had always hated Yoo Junseong, and he’d even misunderstood and thought Han-geon had slept with him.
So wasn’t it possible that Eun-gyeol, rushing over after getting Junseong’s call, had done something to him?

On top of that, the shoot being delayed by a whole week meant this was no small matter.
A chill ran down Han-geon’s spine.
Just how badly had he beaten him?
No—before that, was it really Cha Eun-gyeol who’d done it?

After wavering back and forth, Han-geon steeled himself.
Even if it meant fighting, he had to find out.

“…Did you do it?
To Yoo Junseong.”

“What?”

“…Did you hit him?
I mean—his balls—or whatever.”

“…Yeah.
I hit him a few times.”

He’d asked while desperately hoping the answer would be no.
Han-geon’s face slowly filled with shock.
His hands went cold in an instant.
If what Eun-gyeol said was true, this was really serious.
But Eun-gyeol added casually,

“Relax.
Nothing’s going to happen.
At least not until this shoot’s over.”

“…What?
How?”

“That bastard’s got a shit ton of karma stacked up.
I don’t want to talk about him during my golden vacation, so I’ll tell you when I get back.
For now…”

His fingers began wriggling into Han-geon’s waist.
The sudden intimacy, completely out of place, made him flustered.
Han-geon quickly grabbed his wrist and tried to fling it away, but Eun-gyeol’s hand stubbornly kept creeping back.

“…What is it now?
Again, right after eating?”

“Han-geon.
Did you already forget what the doctor said?
He told us we need to keep going to clear things up properly.”

It was utterly ridiculous.
‘Anytime, anywhere’ fit him perfectly.
Before eating, sometimes in the middle of a meal, and like today, right after…
Han-geon hadn’t even had time to sort out his already confused feelings, and Eun-gyeol kept stealing away every chance to think.

“Still, I c-can’t!
…It… hurts too much now.”

He wasn’t exaggerating.
His already swollen, reddened insides were at their limit—
Just imagining putting something in there again made his teeth chatter.

Glaring at Eun-gyeol, Han-geon slapped away the hand that had already crept up to his chest.
Despite Han-geon’s firm refusal, Eun-gyeol only smiled lazily.
Then, in a cheerful tone, he made a suggestion.

“Then, Han-geon.
Want to try a different way?”