TL | Chapter 5 | Everything Has Changed

When I lightly turned the doorknob, luckily, it didn’t seem to be locked. Judging from the voices coming from the other side of the door, there were about two people… If there were no others, I could probably break through.

After ending my moment of hesitation, I threw the door open and immediately bent low. I grabbed the waist of the large man standing in front of me and pushed him back, causing him to stumble and fall backward in surprise at the sudden attack.

“Catch him!”

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As the fallen man shouted, another man came rushing at Seowon. Seowon quickly twisted his body to dodge, grabbed the man’s arm, and bent it backward. A swift kick to the back of his knee had him crumbling down.

With the guards at the door knocked down and momentarily thrown off, Seowon quickly spun around and ran. If he could just buy himself enough time to escape, that would be enough. Dashing through the corridor, he spotted an emergency exit, opened the door, and rushed down the long stairwell. He could hear footsteps of the men chasing him but never looked back once.

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Reaching a floor marked with “L,” Seowon opened the emergency exit door and stepped out into what appeared to be the lobby of a building. There wasn’t time to ponder where he was; he sprinted straight out of the lobby. The men chasing him were nowhere in sight, likely because he had gained some distance. Without hesitating, he flagged down a passing taxi on the main road.

After telling the taxi driver his destination, Seowon finally looked back at the building through the window. The top of the building displayed the same logo he had seen on the envelope just moments ago.

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So, Luciano had a building in Seoul?

He felt a bit strange about it, but watching those muscular guys search for him outside the building made him let out a long, relieved sigh. Why on earth were they looking for him? He really had nothing to do with them anymore… If Iden were still alive, that would be one thing, but now, with him gone, he had no intention of getting involved with Luciano.

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Seowon sank deeply into the taxi’s back seat, fixing his gaze blankly on the scenes drifting past the window. The more he thought about it, the funnier it all seemed. There was really no need to run like this…

“I don’t want to drag you into this. I want to be with you, but honestly, I’m still hesitant about taking you with me.”

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Iden had been uncertain until the very end about whether bringing Seowon to the United States was the right choice. Knowing the kind of man his father was, Iden didn’t want Seowon to get caught up in it all.

“I don’t care. If you leave me here to wait alone, I’ll imagine all sorts of things.”

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Seowon hadn’t exactly been thrilled to learn that Iden’s father was the boss of an Italian-American mafia. But in the end, Iden himself was far more important to him than any background he came from. That’s why he hadn’t hesitated.

But still, Iden never wanted me to get involved with Luciano.

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It wasn’t the only reason, though. There was also the fact that there was another man who had held him. That knowledge left him feeling deeply uncomfortable.

**

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Upon arriving at his destination, Seowon got out of the taxi, looked around, and tilted his head in confusion. Was this how it looked? He had lived in this neighborhood since his university days, familiar with it down to the posters taped up at the convenience store, yet something felt subtly different. Where there should have been a convenience store, there was now an unfamiliar cafe, and in the spot of a regular Korean restaurant he frequented, a Japanese restaurant had popped up.

Could the taxi driver have dropped him in the wrong place?

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He looked up at the road sign above, but that didn’t seem to be the case. The sign clearly read “University Crossroads.”

It was true that he hadn’t been out in the neighborhood much in nearly two months, combining his stay in the United States and the month since he’d returned to Korea. Still, could the area have changed this much in just two months? A single shop changing hands was one thing, but this was strange—it felt like the entire neighborhood had transformed.

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Maybe time had only stopped for him while everyone else’s lives had continued to move forward at full speed. Shaking his head, he decided it didn’t matter if there was a convenience store or a cafe and moved forward. However, he found himself feeling shocked once more.

He had arrived in front of the villa where he used to live, but the building was completely different. It wasn’t just a new coat of paint—it was an entirely different building. How could an entirely new building appear overnight? Or had more time passed since the day he’d thrown himself into the lake than he’d realized?

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With his home suddenly vanished, he felt utterly lost and unable to process it all. What on earth had happened to him? He stood there in a daze, unable to move.

After standing in place for over ten minutes, he finally took a deep breath and reached for his phone, planning to call someone and ask. But he quickly frowned. His pockets were empty. He must have lost it in the lake. And even if he still had it, it would be ruined from the water.

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With no place to go, he was at a complete loss for what to do next.

“You really are here.”

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A voice from behind startled him. His body recognized it before his mind could process it. His heart clenched momentarily, hoping it was Iden. But no, it was impossible.

Why did he hear that voice again? This time, he couldn’t just dismiss it as a hallucination; he was too lucid for that.

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Slowly, he turned around to see a man who, while not Iden, was still someone who could hold him. Behind him were the muscular men he had struggled with earlier.

Seowon clenched his teeth as he made eye contact with the man. Dressed in a sharply tailored black suit, he looked at Seowon with an indecipherable expression. His chest rose and fell deeply as he took a breath. With steady, echoing footsteps, he began walking toward Seowon.

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“Ha Seowon.”

He called Seowon’s name, and hearing it spoken aloud left no room for confusion. He was definitely different from the Iden he remembered—not just his attire, but even his tone and expression.

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“Seowon-ah.”

This time, his tone changed slightly, matching a memory from the past and causing a pang in Seowon’s heart.

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What is this…? Could he really be Iden, and I’m just mistaken?

Feeling confused, Seowon instinctively stepped back, trying to avoid the man approaching him. The man paused, his hand reaching out for Seowon.

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“Ha Seowon.”

He called Seowon’s name again, this time with a tenderness in his voice.

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“Come here.”

His gaze dropped to his outstretched hand. It was different, yet the same. His words mixed with memories, dizzying Seowon. But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to take that hand. He could feel his own eyes trembling as he looked at it.

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He remembered seeing him collapse in front of him, blood staining that very hand red. That memory left him frozen in place.

Just then, a scent of pheromones wafted over. Looking up at Iden, Seowon saw that he was openly releasing his pheromones.

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“Why…!”

Seowon, feeling his body begin to tremble, tightly wrapped his arms around himself. He couldn’t resist his pheromones. Heat, originating from his core, surged throughout his body, squeezing his heart. With every step Iden took closer, he felt himself being engulfed by the scent.

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In the end, unable to endure it, Seowon’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. Because his heat cycle wasn’t fully over, the effects were even more overwhelming. As if he’d been waiting, Iden crouched down, grabbed Seowon’s chin, and lifted his face.

“It really is you.”

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He spoke words Seowon couldn’t understand. But the pheromones were so overwhelming he couldn’t afford to think about what they meant.

“St-stop…”

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Reaching out a trembling hand, he clutched at Iden’s jacket. He wasn’t sure if he wanted him to stop the pheromones or if he just wanted to hold onto him again.

Despite Seowon’s plea, Iden didn’t pull back the pheromones. Instead, he unleashed them even more intensely, causing Seowon to stifle a groan and wince. Without hesitation, Iden wrapped his arm around Seowon’s shoulders and pulled him close, pressing his face against his chest. Already submerged in his pheromones, Seowon’s body couldn’t resist as he was drawn in.

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“Let’s go back.”

Iden whispered softly into Seowon’s ear. Seowon, on the brink of losing consciousness, didn’t respond. His breathing had become ragged, seemingly in distress due to Iden’s pheromones.

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Iden hadn’t meant to torment him—he only wanted to be certain.

Taking a small syringe from his pocket, he injected it into Seowon’s arm. The mixture contained a sedative and a suppressant to calm his heat cycle. Soon, Seowon’s body relaxed, and he drifted off.

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As Iden lifted Seowon’s unconscious body, Min, who had been waiting nearby, approached.

“Are we going to the headquarters?”

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“No. Take him home.”

Iden had initially brought him to the company for verification, but that was no longer necessary.

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As Min watched Iden place Seowon into the waiting car, he let out a quiet sigh. It was impossible to predict what would happen from here. Ha Seowon’s existence was like a storm for Iden. The storm he ignited could lead to yet another war.