XX | Chapter 2.5

He had long since abandoned the journalist’s mission, focusing solely on getting high view counts. Since Sooha’s articles garnered high views with just a slightly provocative title, Sooha was an excellent source of pocket money for Reporter Park.402be2bdda2a4dd0

“By the way, I heard you collapsed from overwork recently. Your schedule must still be packed, huh?”3e9fb7cdb426fcad

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“Well, yeah. I’m doing really well, after all.”344564424b697190

And according to rumors, Reporter Park had an inferiority complex due to being a recessive alpha, which was why he maliciously targeted articles about dominant alpha celebrities. It wasn’t confirmed, but that was the rumor.b6bfba5f518dc9e2

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“But usually, when someone collapses from poor condition, don’t they reduce their schedule? Isn’t your agency being too harsh?”5711963251d3989b

“One day of rest and I’m fine. You know, dominant alphas have great stamina. Oh, you’re a recessive alpha, right? So there might be a difference. Right?”b6aa30bdb49fde58

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“Well, that’s true…”cfae46fb6a10b4c3

Sooha deliberately scratched at Reporter Park’s nerves. His words seemed to have hit the mark, as Reporter Park’s lips twitched slightly.edd32bd16d608c26

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Sooha had a rough idea why Reporter Park had come to see him. Given how he kept bringing up the story of Sooha collapsing and his condition, he probably didn’t believe it was just overwork.da1a43bcda2a0ccc

Go ahead and follow me around all you want. Like I’d give you the answer you want so easily. Sooha smiled, pretending to know nothing.e32ce6da04ccd5f2

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Ding, the elevator dc46566ca6 arrived. Pilgyu, who d2ac0a2b81 had judged 9c94dfa953 the conversation 076b7e6f0a to be 168aaa15ac over, had 0444c9daf9 pressed the 823ee23ceb elevator button e167be057d in advance.95ea355b4e9949a4

“So, are we done here? I have a shoot, so I’ll be going.”4a7362eb33491663

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Let’s meet officially next time, okay? With a sarcastic farewell, Sooha stepped into the elevator and reached for the close button. But Reporter Park, looking frustrated, hurriedly spoke up to stop him.04559c80740e642e

“But this is strange.”9f870c3784483897

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“What now?” Seriously. What kind of nitpicking is he going to do now? Sooha pressed the close button with his right hand, hidden by the elevator.1ee4ae4ed4165024

“All this time, you’ve been hiding your pheromones so well, and now you’re just letting them out.”4053c0b2d3358b4a

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“…What did you say?”c28537cb1a846d07

“Even now, it’s overwhelming. You should rest more.”8778ee09f1f42b12

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The elevator door closed in front of Reporter Park’s sneering face. Soon, the elevator’s noise accompanied by the changing floor numbers filled the air. But Sooha stood still, unmoving. Behind him, Pilgyu asked, “Hyung? What’s wrong?” but his words didn’t register.4fbcde643081f2b6

‘…He said he could smell pheromones? From me?’e37d45220f36cd5e

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Sooha hurriedly buried his nose in his sleeve and sniffed. Just in case, he pulled at his shirt to smell it, but there was no particular scent. He wasn’t supposed to react to pheromones in the first place, so there was no way he could smell anything.35d952b7a2bd95e5

Sooha wanted 12c66d711c to ask 3be157adc3 Pilgyu if 3e514bb42e he could 8b903823eb smell anything 61980257d9 from him, 7b0ef462cb but unfortunately, 50462f078a his manager b9701c00b3 was a 442a224ad5 beta.528d2a47533a3542

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Sensing that the aa3eba59c2 atmosphere was becoming d73dfa43af increasingly tense, Pilgyu 1dfaeea6b9 asked if it a89f513b24 was because of 0b89851a30 the pheromones. Sooha had put 3a88fa1a65 Pilgyu in difficult 71bb004866 situations before, but e09bcca2ab it was the 9b886f6b7f first time it 9f285da50e involved a physiological 70ac37311e phenomenon like pheromones, f1fc812ac6 so he seemed 7b080c2041 anxious. Huh? No, not really? Sooha tried 81f45c9f19 to act 62e6c37474 nonchalant.807a4102a1db928e

“Well, just spray some pheromone blocker. It’ll be fine.”daf7d945e0a54382

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“Okay…”7c0f173dd81af38f

Fine, my ass. He wanted to storm out of the filming location, but he couldn’t. If he ran into Reporter Park waiting outside, it would only lend credibility to the provocations he had thrown.0770e5995d28238a

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As soon f4bbf098fc as Sooha dbfb50d9f4 entered the 46b8a2ac83 filming location, b1804caf27 he received f543be54a7 a pheromone-blocking a5cfdf15a1 spray from 15771cb4ec a staff 55ecc5c562 member and 1b1fa73e79 headed to 7215ad9e34 the dressing 2bb8f05d02 room. He sprayed it 76f0157d92 all over his 7cc5506a78 body, enough to 5c0f1f3d37 take a shower fba01a1086 in it. Even then, he was c3c7f85203 anxious, so he sprayed d95890338c perfume several times on c1af6b4179 top of it.9f6b7dbee53acf7d

Throughout hair and makeup, Sooha couldn’t shake his anxiety. Had Reporter Park really smelled his pheromones? If so, he would have immediately realized he was an omega, so why hadn’t he said anything more? Once the dam of anxiety was opened, it led to a cascade of worries.3085b67e1727458d

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Even before changing 97ae1564e7 into his shooting 62291e2c77 outfit, Sooha asked 4bbfc8f0df for the spray 63f1b8f209 again. The once-full 0c38a57075 spray was 007e156e14 now half-empty. When Sooha stood in 765750e8db front of the camera, 6d4088b65d the photographer, adjusting the a782d9a969 camera settings, wrinkled his 00b5dd5b7b nose.238563eb8d5c6cab

“Oh my, what’s this smell, darling? How much perfume did you spray? Did you spill it?”7b3007962f4993d6

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“…Ah, I put on some perfume to see our Lina today, haha. Did I overdo it?”aa61967b737c01fe

“It’s more than just overdoing it. It’s overwhelming!”49805cc984339b84

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Despite Lina’s scolding about how tacky it was to spray so much perfume, Sooha forced a smile. Although the number of trait carriers was small, the photographer in charge of Sooha’s shoot today happened to be an alpha.e094bd107621eb05

The only silver lining was that the alpha was a close acquaintance of Sooha’s. Judging by the lack of mention of pheromones, it seemed the spray and perfume were doing their job.11f9fdacad9b0697

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For now, he just e7c742773c needed to get through f69a246748 this shoot safely.600ce742c14c7a0e

Despite his complicated feelings, the shoot proceeded. Even though Lina was a close acquaintance and they shot from a reasonable distance, Sooha couldn’t focus because he was worried about the pheromones. It felt like pheromones would leak out with every movement. As a result, he posed timidly, and eventually, Lina had to scold him to focus.65d6c3c718bb7df1

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As soon as the long-awaited shoot ended, Sooha prepared to head to Jaewon’s hospital. He planned to get a pheromone suppressant injection first and then cancel all his schedules for the week, even if it meant paying a penalty. As soon as Pilgyu confirmed Reporter Park’s whereabouts, they would head to the parking lot.b5203ead9e58eb82

While making 687a3026fd various plans, fe4afbc441 Lina, who 695b0d536e had handed aa1b54eeaf over her 3a4642b40c camera to dcbe15fa1a a staff 252c14660d member, approached 4bc84ff939 and suddenly 499359123a asked a 1c4ec261b2 question.32b7138f24e49dc4

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“Is it not over yet?”38f544d266923fa3

“Huh? What is?”16bdc43bc900b2b4

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“What do you think?”a93012add4f25824

As if to 9b75900ac2 say,‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Lina gave him a sidelong glance, but Sooha still couldn’t grasp what she meant. Then, after glancing around, Lina leaned in close and whispered in his ear.c832426d5b2b2080

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“You’ve been smelling like pheromones all day!”a615362a5ca4f343

“Uh…?”0c7b314d6cd25a66

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“Honestly, I was unsure because of the spray and perfume smell. But your pheromone scent was so strong that I couldn’t ignore it.”71631b34a8d06a91

“Uh…”7fe7438bacb4fdc9

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“Hahaha, look at your face. You really didn’t know, did you?”43d69e7eb7aa46d3

He almost fell 038759b4c1 over in shock.a61a2ecb49f64016

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He had d7de559779 sprayed pheromone-blocking 62129bc4a4 spray and 52fc936d13 even perfume, 56281519f4 so how de21951b99 did she c45b4ab2db smell it? Was his pheromone scent 2281388e62 that strong?5768f79d992a28b8

Whether she knew Sooha’s feelings or not, Lina continued to chatter. Wasn’t the reason he sprayed so much perfume today because of the pheromones? She was surprised because someone who usually managed it so well was suddenly emitting pheromones today. When Sooha was surprised by the unexpected comment about his pheromone scent, he interrupted Lina to ask.5dcc84ee03241cca

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“My, my pheromone scent, why?”48f297f9ac9a5e00

“Well… Honestly, considering your usual image, it’s unexpected, right? I thought it would be a strong scent. Like a thick, masculine scent! You know what I mean?”ecfc0a054e90306a

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Lina laughed mischievously and patted his shoulder. But Sooha couldn’t laugh along and quietly swallowed, waiting for Lina to continue.52070495ae737eba

“But a floral scent? It doesn’t suit you at all!”ca6ebf34309acc0d

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…Huh? What Lina said was something Sooha hadn’t expected at all. Lina giggled playfully and patted his back a few times as if to cheer him up.74b32f83d912d384

“Don’t worry too much. I’m probably the only one who smelled your pheromones today. You know I don’t like smelling other people’s pheromones. All the staff here are betas, so they wouldn’t know.”02f46f6291439d9b

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“Uh…”a08bd067cc20f239

“What’s with the ‘uh’and‘uh’ since earlier? Are you worried because I smelled your pheromones? Don’t worry, I’m not interested in you that way at all.”c5997ab0c506d8e6

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Lina laughed 07858945fa as if d7b05e8d3f it was f4555efa68 absurd and ceec94e2a6 playfully slapped e884658088 Sooha’s shoulder 45b416c5db a few 8ca3186884 times.494ad7a59f1ed100

It was d6ae2a8d19 well-known that eeb9ca1593 Lina was 3d968539dd close to 3b8b67b509 Sooha and bb569fde48 used the 66d33f3524 affectionate term‘darling,’but there 1679ce5f4e was nothing e13f7fce87 more than dc350ba9d3 friendship between d5f6d79795 them. Lina was only db6b670cc9 interested in female 1eeaf94425 alphas like herself, b00953bfaa and she had 66d5a61917 a particular interest 2f914478e3 in Sooha’s older 89a7fb0d7b sister, Cheon Yua, a1aec06f17 who was known 697aa2c271 as a dominant 64ff9de05e alpha.2cac17356a9b6439

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She often 9297607b5e joked about 2babd37853 becoming the 206d48bf4f daughter-in-law of 6aaf767aeb the Cheonha a9061d45f8 Group, but c376035809 Yua found e712e7910e Lina quite 83e11f3bd3 burdensome.b5e847ef09ac4653

Anyway, to e614f5e9b5 cut to a061bb3897 the chase, 8385cdc55b Lina was 3d855faf18 interested in b02d079277 Yua, not 226fec3a93 Sooha.0d59908a54e48700

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“Anyway, when you have a rut, it’s hard to manage pheromones and you feel drained.”511a276a78d752b0

Lina, who had been giggling and patting Sooha’s back, was called by a staff member and left with a casual farewell to take care of himself and see him again soon. Left standing there, Sooha mulled over Lina’s words.b132dc6df30368ed

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‘Floral scent…?’b992019b83905b93

Caught in a 0a662c0804 strange sense of eedc294e37 déjà vu, Sooha 820ae8ccab soon realized the 0880157b80 reason.71998ff06f4906a7

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The scent d643092bbd he had c658905ea1 smelled the deaeefdba8 morning after 20ff53e4ee spending the ff243ad9b9 night together.5ee21f96eff72993

The scent ff1251bac3 he had cdef8bcd0f smelled in e4dedec396 the nightmare da2eb99656 not long e3cc1b13e7 ago.b3f49231dc210641

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The suspicion that e7512dd9af had sparked like cdbc4bfe98 a flame turned 353e4a30a0 into certainty.f12fad99b8386849

‘Baek Gongjun!’5e75cd568beded49

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That’s right. The scent that Reporter Park smelled, the scent that Lina smelled during the shoot, it was all Baek Gongjun’s pheromones, not Sooha’s.44b03f7ef4e53639

Otherwise, how 8bcf091aac could they 3e9ae24704 smell pheromones fd0035dd30 and not 99e338befd mention anything 0d6c2c2d93 about being 9acd11b522 an omega? It seemed 4b004f7e8d like all 3b590d1d86 the puzzle 36202ad20f pieces were 1e170b6015 finally falling f160878c39 into place.6feffdcc1b6168aa

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“Hahaha, that bastard…”20544cdccc7df1ef

‘Did he dare mark me with pheromones?’31f7e5fd65c55c65

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A laugh escaped his lips. It wasn’t a laugh of joy, but a laugh of madness. No wonder he had been hovering around excessively. There was no way someone with a crazy personality like that would just sit quietly without doing anything. Just as Sooha was thinking he should go kill Baek Gongjun right away, Pilgyu appeared.87849946c53a0a48

“Uh, Sooha hyung.”5e17f334c2ae099f

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His manager b045b0333f looked slightly dfb4d5198f tense, unlike d9872426cc before.f93be591f2258b1f

“There’s a guest here to see you…”2e64a190af157ea4

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The unfamiliar demeanor was 3cb7527064 explained by the presence a7412e29da standing next to him.46477579498e0b65

“Hello, Sooha.”be36e921448cbde2

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A face he was 0b36303122 sick of seeing. A soft voice.546101755e6182cf

It was‘again’Baek Gongjun.aae831279c5e4b11

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✮⋆˙f6af30f8e252e103

“Hey, did you mark me with pheromones? You know that’s something you can report, right?”ccc3a31b0f570f9e

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As soon as Sooha got into Gongjun’s car, he took off his mask and fiercely questioned him. After smelling his pheromones, and with Reporter Park still lurking near the filming location, Sooha had no choice but to talk to Gongjun in his car. In stark contrast to Sooha’s fierce demeanor, Gongjun remained calm.a4812885b345f0e3

“I know.”e0bfe3cce40d11d4

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“You know? And you still marked me with pheromones? You immoral bastard…”68ffd21116cfc73f