Love Born of Pity Chapter 42

After checking the floor, he entered the building and waited for the elevator. Perhaps because it was a busy area even in the late afternoon, there were many people. He barely managed to find a spot in a corner of the elevator and pressed the button for the 4th floor. People got on and off at every floor. Feeling drained, he stepped off on the 4th floor and headed towards the eye clinic.

He checked in at the desk and waited for about 30 minutes. When he thought he couldn’t wait any longer and stood up to leave, his name was called.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

He waited on a chair next to the examination room and entered as soon as the door opened. The man in a white coat, who had been looking at the monitor with a bored expression, widened his eyes.

“Mr. Kwon Jiho?”

“……Yes.”

“Sit down. You’re here because your right eye is bothering you, right?”

“Yes.”

He sat on the round chair, answered a few simple questions, and then moved to the front of a machine. Sitting down, he rested his chin and stared at the blue light as instructed by the doctor. After a few minutes, he heard the doctor say he was done.

“When did this start?”

“About… three weeks? Four weeks…? I don’t know. Around then.”

“Can you tell me more about your symptoms?”

“My right eye is blurry. I think I could still see shapes until yesterday… or was it two days ago…?”

Even as he spoke, he couldn’t remember when his vision had been fine. Was it really two days ago? He wasn’t sure.

“Have you been experiencing these symptoms continuously, or did they appear suddenly?”

“Suddenly. Suddenly, um…”

Kwon Jiho glanced nervously at the nurse standing next to the doctor and bit his lip.

“I’m not sure, but it’s been like this since I… received pheromones.”

“Ah, pheromones. Pheromones?”

“……Yes.”

“Mr. Kwon Jiho, your secondary gender is… a recessive Omega. I thought you were a Beta because I couldn’t sense any pheromones.”

At Choi Suhyeok’s murmur, Kwon Jiho raised his eyes to meet his. Choi Suhyeok rechecked the medical history Kwon Jiho had filled out. He carefully read the parts he had skimmed over before the examination.

“Your presentation… is quite late. It was recently, wasn’t it? Does the other person know?”

The question undeniably held a hint of personal curiosity. An Alpha’s pheromones have a significant impact on presentations after adolescence. Does he have an Alpha he’s seeing? If they could trigger a Beta’s presentation, it must be a pretty deep relationship. Choi Suhyeok composed his expression, hiding his inner thoughts.

“Mr. Kwon Jiho?”

When he mistook this rare beauty before him for a blind date, he thanked the matchmaker for the first time. He found Kwon Jiho’s first impression quite innocent – sitting there in a knitwear worth several million won, looking up as if he knew nothing.

The luxurious air around him hinted at his upbringing, but his current demeanor contradicted that assumption. It was unsettling. The appearance that had misled him into thinking Kwon Jiho was raised sheltered seemed, upon closer inspection, to be a form cowering under some unseen pressure.

“They… don’t know yet.”

“A partner? Alphas often have partners even if they don’t have lovers.”

“……What?”

“Someone you can’t call a lover. It’s quite popular these days. A relationship without responsibility.”

He spoke casually and continued reading the small writing. Some of the letters were difficult to decipher. Especially since the ‘r’ and ‘t’ sounds were written confusingly, making him stop and stare for a while.

He chuckled at the messy handwriting, then turned his gaze back to Kwon Jiho, finding him more beautiful the longer he looked. Remembering the nurse’s presence, Choi Suhyeok fixed his curious gaze back on the medical history form.

“Your vision hasn’t deteriorated suddenly, and looking at the OCT image we just took, there are no signs of cataracts. It doesn’t look like macular degeneration, retinal disease, or glaucoma either. Your pupils are too clear for any lesions. They react to light, too.”

“…….”

“In cases like this, I recommend going to a secondary gender center for a comprehensive examination, but even if you do, the results will likely come back as pheromone side effects. As you’ve experienced, Mr. Kwon Jiho, your condition worsened after receiving pheromones, so it’s probably true. Still, if you’re worried, visit the center and get a comprehensive examination. I’ll prescribe pheromone supplements and eye drops for now, so take them diligently. Let’s see each other again next week.”

While Kwon Jiho was trying to gauge whether he could come back, the doctor continued.

“Oh, and it would be best to avoid your partner for a while. In cases like this, if you just avoid exposure to pheromones, you’ll recover quickly. It’s also the best way to confirm whether the symptoms are indeed caused by pheromones.”

Kwon Jiho could only offer an awkward smile to the man who so easily told him not to see Do Yeonjae. There was no way to avoid seeing him. They lived in the same house.

Kwon Jiho stood up and bowed his head slightly. He had thought there was a serious problem with his eyes, but it was a relief that it wasn’t a strange disease.

“But your eyes aren’t the only things affected. These side effects usually come together. Discomfort arises sporadically.”

“My ears feel a little uncomfortable too. I can hear, but it’s a little… stuffy, like there’s water in them. And… I’ve been getting nosebleeds often, but this… isn’t because of that, is it?”

“If the symptoms appeared simultaneously around the same time, they can all be attributed to pheromones. Make sure to take your supplements regularly. And try to avoid exposure to pheromones as much as possible. You should definitely inform your partner.”

“What should I… say?”

Choi Suhyeok frowned slightly at the cautious question. What does he mean, what should he say? He should just be honest. Choi Suhyeok rubbed his chin as he looked at Kwon Jiho, who was acting as if he had committed a crime.

“Tell him you’re experiencing pheromone side effects due to your secondary gender changing and ask him to refrain from pheromone exposure, or tell him not to see you for a while.”

“What if I continue to be exposed to pheromones…?”

“Well, if it gets worse, you might not be able to see anything with your right eye. I can’t guarantee your left eye’s vision either. We need to confirm if it’s indeed a pheromone side effect, so ask your partner to refrain for at least a few days. We need to see if the medication and eye drops improve your condition before I can suggest a treatment plan.”

Being apart from Do Yeonjae was impossible. Asking him to control his pheromones was also out of the question. As Kwon Jiho stood up and bowed, the nurse left the examination room first. Choi Suhyeok stopped Kwon Jiho as he turned to leave.

“Have you ever been told that you’re bad at lying?”

“…….”

“Yet, you managed to find the clinic.”

He smiled and handed Kwon Jiho a business card from his desk. When Kwon Jiho didn’t extend his hand, Choi Suhyeok told him to wait a moment and wrote down his personal contact information.

“Don’t throw this away.”

“……I don’t need this.”

“There might be days when you suddenly can’t see and get scared. I’m an ophthalmologist, and I can help you, Mr. Jiho. Call me on those days. Don’t lose it.”

“Thank you.”

Kwon Jiho awkwardly scratched the back of his head and left the examination room. He paid in cash and received his prescription. There were still many people waiting to be seen. As he sat down, he thought that the doctor hadn’t been lying when he said there were many patients. He left the clinic.

♬⋆.˚

The eye drops Kwon Jiho received from the pharmacy were to be used twice a day, but they didn’t improve his vision. However, when he took the pheromone supplement, the stuffiness in his ears cleared up a bit. The muffled sound became quite clear.

Kwon Jiho briefly considered hiding the medication, but since he had to use the eye drops before bed, he decided to be honest and say he had gone to the clinic because his eyes hurt. If Do Yeonjae asked out of curiosity, that is.

Kwon Jiho took a breath in his counseling room, checked the clock on his desk, and stood up. It was time for Hyunwoo to arrive. Lately, the child had been bringing him vitamin drinks or energy drinks frequently. A few days ago, he even asked if he was interested in trying tanning oil, claiming it would tan his skin even in the dark. He said Kwon Jiho looked too pale.

“Is it that strange?”

He checked the color of the back of his hand. Perhaps because he saw it every day, he couldn’t find anything particularly strange about it. Isn’t it normal? His mumbling inner monologue gently penetrated his previously muffled ears.

Kwon Jiho scratched his right earlobe. The mild headache he’d been experiencing also subsided somewhat after taking the pheromone supplement. Except for his blurry vision, the medication seemed to be working quite well.

Absentmindedly pressing on his right eyelid, Kwon Jiho opened a drawer and took out Kang Gyumin’s business card. He placed it on the table and stared intently at the name. He had told Kang Gyumin to break up with Kwon Heeyeon before she found out, but since she already knew, their conversation that day had become like a sandcastle washed away by a single wave.

“……Heeyeon found out.”

Kwon Jiho quietly recited the words he needed to convey to Kang Gyumin.

“She knows everything, so there’s no need for this anymore.”