* * *
Saheon silently watched the rapidly retreating figure.
Of course, if he gave chase now, he could easily catch up. But he didn’t.
Instead, he kept replaying what Wookyung had said a moment ago.
‘Even if I’m not the real Gil Wookyung?’
“Ah, as I thought…”
Saheon wiped his face with his hands.
The memory of that day—his conversation with Woohyun—came vividly to mind.
It was a day when the cold snap, jealous of spring’s arrival, was particularly fierce.
Gil Woohyun had shown up, his face clearly weighed down by worry.
Instinctively, Saheon had assumed it was about his younger brother.
After all, the usually laid-back Woohyun only ever got serious when it involved him.
“I should’ve just killed that bastard a long time ago.”
Woohyun spat out the curse like it left a bitter taste in his mouth and downed his drink.
It came right after he’d mentioned his brother’s secondary gender awakening, which piqued Saheon’s curiosity.
“Who are you talking about?”
Saheon asked as he refilled the glass.
Again, Woohyun emptied it in one gulp.
He was well past his drinking limit.
Should Saheon stop him?
As he hesitated, Woohyun, dissatisfied with his empty glass, reached for the bottle.
“I’ll pour it.”
With a sigh, Saheon pushed the bottle out of reach and instead filled the glass with water.
Woohyun, already quite drunk, didn’t even seem to notice.
“Did someone do something terrible to your brother?”
There were only so many people who could upset Woohyun like this.
Saheon was genuinely curious and intentionally avoided saying “Wookyung,” using “your brother” instead, trying to coax the truth out.
As expected, Woohyun started to breathe heavily again.
The way he glared at Saheon—it was as if he were staring down the person who had wronged him.
But beneath that rage, there was guilt and sorrow.
Clearly, his emotions were tangled.
“Ha… I don’t know if I should say this or not.”
The words had already started spilling out.
What was the point of hesitating now?
Saheon didn’t quite understand, but he patiently waited for him to speak again.
Honestly, he was curious.
From what he’d learned through Woohyun, Wookyung didn’t seem like someone who’d fall into serious trouble.
“But if I tell you, it might put you in an awkward position too…”
Woohyun mumbled.
Maybe it was the alcohol tangling his tongue, or maybe he was genuinely conflicted.
But Saheon, hearing that it might involve him, immediately thought of someone.
“Don’t tell me this has something to do with Min Kyowon.”
Woohyun noticeably flinched.
That reaction was all the confirmation Saheon needed.
On top of that, his expression clearly asked, ‘How did you know?’—his confusion and alarm written all over his face.
“I mean, uh, that is, it’s just…”
Even his pupils were trembling violently.
At this rate, he was going to confess everything without needing much prodding.
‘How could Min Kyowon be involved with Wookyung?’
Saheon stared at Woohyun and tried to piece it together.
It wasn’t impossible—they went to the same high school.
Wookyung probably saw him around a few times.
But still, how did things go wrong?
“Look… You have to keep this to yourself. Our parents don’t even know. I’ve been going back and forth on whether to tell them, but the more I think about it, the more I think ignorance might be better. That’s why I’ve decided to keep it a secret.”
If that were the case, he probably shouldn’t have told anyone at all.
Words, once spoken, can’t be taken back.
But Saheon didn’t bother saying that.
He had no intention of spreading it, and there was no one he could even tell.
Still, he would come to regret not pressing harder for caution—because of what Woohyun eventually revealed after draining two more glasses of water.
“The reason Wookyung awakened like that… It was because of Min Kyowon. That bastard used his pheromones violently, and that’s what triggered it.”
Saheon’s eyes flashed dangerously.
His tightly controlled pheromones almost burst out, but he barely managed to hold them back.
Woohyun was right in front of him. And he was an Omega.
No matter how furious he was, he couldn’t let that harm him.
“What are you talking about? What did Min Kyowon do? Why?”
“I… I don’t know the full details either. I only realized something was off while going through some old research. I remembered what happened before Wookyung’s awakening and went to confront Min Kyowon directly.”
What Woohyun confessed next was more shocking the longer it went on.
“Min Kyowon’s been doing this for a while. He uses his pheromones to intimidate any Beta or Alpha who hangs around Shin Jaehyun.”
“He told you that himself?”
“Yeah. Said it like it was nothing. Claimed he was just disciplining people who dared flirt with his Omega. And he did the same thing to Wookyung.”
Using pheromones that way—especially on a Beta—is vicious.
The worst part is that the victims might not even realize what’s happening.
And if one of them pressed charges, the consequences could be severe.
“He didn’t know Wookyung was your brother?”
“I didn’t ask. Maybe he didn’t. You saw that photo, right? He and I look… a little different. And back then, Wookyung had long hair that covered his face.”
Saheon tried to recall Wookyung’s face.
Always neat, composed—and the handkerchief he’d given off a clean, gentle scent.
“On top of that, after it happened, Wookyung developed memory issues. Ah… damn. I must really be drunk. I can’t believe I’m saying all this.”
Realizing the gravity of what he’d revealed, Woohyun covered his mouth.
But even then, muffled words still slipped out.
“Memory issues?”
“No—just forget I said that. Please. No one can know about this. It’s really that serious.”
“It’s because of Min Kyowon, isn’t it?”
Saheon had no intention of backing down—not when it involved Wookyung.
He deliberately mentioned the name that would provoke the strongest reaction.
As expected, Woohyun’s face contorted with rage.
“That bastard… He scared Wookyung so badly that he lost his memories from before his awakening. Lost them! And that’s not even the worst part—he still thinks he’s someone else!”
“What do you mean, someone else?”
“Ha… I didn’t even know why he awakened until much later. So when he asked me about Shin Jaehyun, I just wondered why he’d be curious about that.”
In his defense, Woohyun had been a high school senior at the time—stressed, buried in his studies, oblivious to what his brother was going through.
“That was my mistake…”
Later, when Shin Jaehyun told him that Wookyung had been running around, trying to bring them together—how absurd it all seemed.
“I was stunned when I found out. Completely stunned… And you can’t tell anyone about this, okay? Seriously.”
Suddenly worried again, Woohyun broke off and pleaded.
Then he glanced around with bleary, unfocused eyes.
“There’s no one here. Don’t worry.”
This was a private room—one where even staff only entered when called.
Saheon often used it, since he didn’t like mingling with crowds.
And truthfully, if Woohyun hadn’t been Wookyung’s brother, Saheon wouldn’t have been drinking with an Omega in such a secluded space.
He couldn’t trust the other person’s intentions otherwise.
Saheon had, up until now, shut off any possibility of actions or situations that might lead to misunderstandings.
Otherwise, he could be dragged into unwanted circumstances—and he simply couldn’t allow that.
“Hmm… My little brother is pretty meticulous. He always writes down exactly what he’s doing, and sneaking a peek at that… it’s fun.”
He must be thoroughly drunk—Gil Woohyun’s ramblings had grown long again.
Strangely anxious at being kept waiting, Saheon bit his lip, tempted to urge him on, but instead just sipped his drink and held his tongue.
Thankfully, Gil Woohyun continued.
“In any case, Jaehyun listened to what I said, searched his computer and notebooks that day, and… ha.”
He sighed heavily, clearly exasperated at the memory.
Then, at last, he spoke the fact Saheon had been waiting for.
“He thinks he’s, well… just an extra in some novel. In other words… ha, damn. He’s convinced this isn’t real.”
“What the—”
“I didn’t dare ask anyone directly, but I dug up some related research, right? And it said there’s a post-effect of sudden manifestations where people mistake reality for some imagined space.”
A sudden manifestation throwing one’s perception of reality off. Saheon had been skeptical even when he first heard it—Wookyung had always been so steady, so unshakeable.
But after hearing Wookyung’s words a little while ago, the story Gil Woohyun told finally made sense.
And he knew exactly what he had to do.
Saheon stood up from the bench, his mind clear. His steps quickened until he was running.
He had to find Wookyung right away.
* * *
