The emergency room door opened, and Dojin walked out.
His forehead and forearm were covered in white gauze; although he looked a bit pale, his expression was much more relaxed.
When he stepped into the hallway and saw Chairman Choi standing with Yoonwoo, his face stiffened instantly.
Reflexively, he moved into a posture as if trying to shield Yoonwoo behind his back.
His eyes were still filled with a deep wariness toward the Chairman.
“What… are you doing here?”
“Dojin!”
Yoonwoo was slightly flustered by his reaction and stopped him.
“Grandfather came because he was worried about you! Don’t be like that, please greet him properly.”
At Yoonwoo’s words, Dojin reluctantly bowed his head slightly.
“…Thank you for coming, Grandfather.”
His voice was still stiff, but the sharp hostility he had shown at the officetel was gone.
Chairman Choi watched them both with a meaningful look for a moment, then muttered as if to himself.
“…So that’s how it turned out…”
Complex emotions flashed across his face.
He turned his gaze back to Dojin and asked, “So, what on earth happened? If it was enough to leave you this injured, it couldn’t have been a simple matter.”
Just as Dojin opened his mouth to explain what had happened:
“Ugh…!”
Suddenly, Dojin gasped in pain and staggered, leaning against Yoonwoo’s shoulder.
His face turned pale in an instant, and cold sweat poured down like rain.
“Dojin! What’s wrong!”
Yoonwoo was startled and hurried to support him.
“You, what is happening to you! Where does it hurt!”
Chairman Choi was also flustered, not knowing what to do as he checked on Dojin’s condition.
“…I, I don’t know… Suddenly… that person’s scent is so revolting… Ugh…”
Dojin gasped for breath, pointing at the secretary who had been standing on one side of the hallway.
The secretary, suddenly singled out, looked flustered and restless, not knowing what to do.
“I, I didn’t do anything!”
Just then, a cold and languid voice sounded from behind them.
“It must be because of the pheromones coming from that secretary.”
As everyone turned their heads toward the source of the sound, Han Jehoon was standing there, though no one knew when he had appeared.
He wore an unreadable smile while watching the entire situation.
“Pheromones?”
Yoonwoo asked, surprised.
He couldn’t understand how Dojin, who had been fine until a moment ago, was suddenly suffering because of pheromones.
Jehoon looked at the secretary and asked, “You are an Omega, right?”
The secretary hurriedly nodded.
“Yes, I am an Omega, but… I am not releasing any pheromones right now.”
“It’s because Dojin is currently in a state of extreme sensitivity to other pheromones. You need to lock them down completely.”
Jehoon shifted his gaze to Dojin and asked, “By any chance… did Han Jiwoon make you take a white pill-like medicine?”
Even in the midst of his pain, Dojin nodded with great effort.
“…Yes. I definitely… took some strange medicine…”
“As I thought.”
Jehoon nodded and said to Yoonwoo, “Seo Yoonwoo, Kim Dojin is a patient who needs treatment. And as soon as possible.”
Yoonwoo’s face turned white at his words.
“But the hospital… the hospital said there was nothing wrong with him…!”
“A general hospital would naturally be unable to detect the problem. It cannot be detected by a standard blood test. That medicine was secretly developed by our H Pharmaceutical a long time ago, and it is not a drug released to the public, so general doctors wouldn’t know about it.”
“What! He made my grandson take such a medicine?!”
Chairman Choi shouted in a voice filled with rage. Ignoring the Chairman’s anger, Jehoon stepped toward him, bowed politely, and introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you, Chairman. I am Han Jehoon, an executive at H Pharmaceutical. I would like to explain in detail what happened, but…”
He then turned back to Dojin.
“First, treatment for Mr. Kim Dojin comes first. I can treat the side effects of the medicine he took. Instead of staying here, let’s go to a safe hospital that I know.”
Yoonwoo supported the exhausted Dojin and helped him into the car Jehoon had prepared.
The secretary tried to help, but Dojin’s expression soured whenever he got close, so he had no choice but to watch from a distance.
The car headed straight to a private hospital located somewhere in Seoul.
As soon as they arrived, Dojin was admitted to a private room to rest.
Jehoon approached Yoonwoo, who was looking at Dojin with a pained expression.
“You must be very shocked, so you should get some rest too, Seo Yoonwoo. Would you like to go home first? I will arrange transportation for you.”
Yoonwoo shook his head.
“No. I… will stay by Dojin’s side.”
His voice was low and firm.
“By any chance… is there a store nearby? I need to buy some simple toiletries and clothes.”
Jehoon looked at Yoonwoo for a moment, then said with a faint smile, “I will have everything you need prepared. Please make yourself comfortable.”
He then turned his gaze toward Dojin’s grandfather.
“Chairman, please come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you. I think I need to inform you in detail about what happened from the time Dojin was kidnapped until today.”
He politely led Dojin’s grandfather out of the hospital room. Before the door closed, Yoonwoo watched the two of them walking toward the lounge at the end of the hallway.
Back in the hospital room, only Yoonwoo and Dojin remained.
Outside the window, the sun was setting.
The faint sunlight seeping through the glass broke across Dojin’s pale face.
Yoonwoo quietly approached his side and sat in the small chair next to the bed.
He then carefully held his hand.
Yoonwoo felt deeply sorry for him, suffering all this pain because of him, and at the same time, he felt a sense of relief that he could stay by his side like this.
Every time he saw the gauze covering his forehead and the bandages on his arms, he remembered how desperate he must have been to protect himself, and his eyes grew hot.
He gently stroked the sleeping Dojin’s cheek, desperately hoping that he would regain his health as soon as possible.
Yoonwoo stayed by Dojin’s side all night.
Even while tossing and turning uncomfortably on the nursing bed, all his nerves were focused on Dojin.
Just looking at Dojin, who lay motionless with a pale face, made his heart ache.
The next morning, along with a knock on the door, Jehoon entered.
He asked Yoonwoo to have a talk for a moment and led him to the lounge at the end of the hall.
Chairman Choi and Cha Joowon were already sitting there with hardened faces.
The air in the lounge was heavy and tense.
Yoonwoo was slightly surprised to see Joowon, but realizing that he was also involved, he greeted him with a nod. Joowon nodded back, acknowledging the greeting.
Once Yoonwoo was seated, Jehoon clapped his hands lightly, as if signaling the start of a play.
Then, the coldness from moments ago was gone, and he spoke with a polite, soft smile.
“First of all, I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been dragged into this disgraceful incident due to my younger brother, Han Jiwoon. Especially to Mr. Kim Dojin, Seo Yoonwoo, and CEO Cha Joowon, I bow my head in apology on my brother’s behalf.”
He actually stood up from his seat and bowed politely.
“As I explained to the Chairman yesterday, let me reiterate: although I found traces of Han Jiwoon at the motel where Dojin was kidnapped, unfortunately, he had already fled. I have sent my men to track his whereabouts, so we should be able to find him soon.”
Jehoon sat back down and continued.
His voice was calm, but it gave off an eerie vibe.
“And… I need to tell you about the medicine Mr. Kim Dojin took.”
Jehoon’s gaze scanned Chairman Choi, Yoonwoo, and Joowon in turn.
“That medicine is a special drug that my father, Han Sangjin, the Chairman of H Pharmaceutical, personally researched and created over a long time. It is a hidden drug with no official records or clinical data whatsoever.”
The air in the lounge grew even heavier at his explanation. Jehoon continued.
“The biggest characteristic of that medicine is that it forces a specific part of the brain to be altered so that it only accepts the pheromones of the person with whom the user first engages in sexual intercourse after taking it, becoming tamed only to them. You can think of it as being similar to a forced marking effect. Once you are exposed to a specific pheromone after taking the medicine, you develop an extreme rejection to the pheromones of all other types.”
He stopped for a moment to observe the stiff expressions of the people in the room.
“And this is the most malicious part… you become addicted to the pheromones of the person you are forcibly marked to, like a drug. Eventually, you become so mentally and physically subordinate that you cannot live a single day without them. Regardless of your own will or emotions, you end up craving only those pheromones.”
“What… what a horrible drug…!”
Yoonwoo let out a low groan without realizing it.
It was now clear why Dojin had shown such a violent rejection to the secretary’s pheromones yesterday.
If he hadn’t gone to that motel at that time, and if Dojin had shared his body with Minjae… it was a horrific thought he didn’t even want to imagine.
Chairman Choi also groaned, suppressing his anger.
“If such a devilish drug were to be released into the world…! A drug that allows you to manipulate and control people of different types as you please…! What on earth was that bastard Han Sangjin thinking…”
Joowon’s face looked gloomy as he listened to Jehoon’s explanation.
Seeing Joowon’s gloomy expression, Yoonwoo suddenly realized something.
Could it be… Cha Joowon, too? As if reading Yoonwoo’s thoughts, Jehoon nodded.
“CEO Cha Joowon was also targeted by my brother. I confirmed it myself. He, too, shows an extreme rejection to other pheromones.”
Only then did Yoonwoo understand everything.
The incomprehensible coldness Joowon had shown him in the past, his sudden change of heart, and all his behaviors that made him feel like a different person.
Thinking that it was all because of the drugs, he felt a deep sense of pity and sadness for Joowon for a moment.
However, unfortunately, no more feelings remained in his heart for him.
Too much time had passed, and he had already been hurt too much.
