Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 93

Imprinting was typically a phenomenon where an Alpha was attuned to a specific Omega, and an Omega to a specific Alpha, responding only to that one particular partner’s pheromones. It was a symptom found only in relationships where both parties were strongly bonded, both psychologically and physically. But ‘unilateral’ imprinting? At the unfamiliar term, Sejin looked at the professor with questioning eyes, and the professor replied with an indifferent face.

“Generally, when an Alpha or Omega is in an imprinted state with a specific partner, if they don’t absorb that partner’s pheromones, the pheromone levels themselves can be lowered with medication, but the body will continue to remain in an unstable state. By any chance, was there an Omega around you at the time of your presentation who could have influenced you?”

There was. At the question that felt like his innermost thoughts had been laid bare, Sejin felt his heart sink with a thud again. When Sejin hesitated and couldn’t answer right away, the professor continued.

“Well, the best thing would be, whether it’s unilateral imprinting or if the other person is also in an imprinted state like you, to slowly adapt using the partner’s pheromones so that you can stabilize even without their pheromones. If that situation is difficult, there are no other treatment methods. There’s no way but to give the body time to adapt.”

“……”

Sejin, pressing on his forehead that felt like it was throbbing again, thought. The fact that Taehyun had cut off all contact and was staying out of sight after the Olympics was now something known not only to the athletes but to anyone with even a slight interest in gossip. The only line of contact, his number, was suspended in the first place, and he wasn’t answering calls from his agency, so there was no way Sejin could contact him now. Sejin tried hard to keep his expression from wavering and asked.

“What do you mean by giving it time….”

Then, the doctor explained again in a calm tone.

“It’s just as it sounds. You just need to focus on your daily life without worrying about anything else. You could try meeting another partner. Usually, the period that unilateral imprinting lasts is, at most, about six months to a year, so if you just manage yourself well during that time, time will solve it.”

In the end, it meant there was nothing he could do. There was no way but to wait until this dry craving burned itself out completely. Finding it absurd himself, Sejin eventually let out a hollow laugh. The sarcastic words Seoyoung had thrown at him had truly become reality.

“You keep that up and it’ll turn into lovesickness.”

His snort, asking what kind of nonsense he was spouting, was put to shame as all his symptoms matched the description of that rather cheesy and romantic word. Sejin, after recovering from the shock that felt like he had been hit over the head, opened his mouth again.

“……What if it doesn’t improve within a year?”

What if time does not solve it even after waiting? Then what should I do? As Sejin calmed his painfully pounding heart, thump thump thump, the doctor answered with a composed face.

“Then we’d have to see it as a psychological issue rather than an internal medicine one. Symptoms from a unilateral pheromone reaction, at the very, very longest, last for a year. This isn’t my personal speculation; it’s a scientifically proven fact. The human body continuously adapts to changed environments, so if pheromone exposure is stopped, it goes through a brief adaptation period and then returns to its original state.”

At those words, Sejin was shocked again. If nothing gets resolved even after time passes, then in the end, it is not a simple pheromone problem. Do I actually like that man? Sejin wanted to deny it. That couldn’t be. It’s just that I’m concerned about him. After all, it was a fact that he had taken care of him up close while he was staying in Korea. He wanted to believe that he just couldn’t ignore someone who had helped him like that, and that’s why he was worried if he was okay. Therefore, the one year the doctor mentioned was nothing short of a grace period to confirm what the truth was.

At first, he was angry. Then he was disappointed, then he felt sorry for him again, and then he resented him. After that storm of emotions raged, he just wanted to see him. He wanted to touch him. He wanted to confirm if the pleasant sunny scent that subtly emanated from him was really his pheromone.

To summarize all these messy emotions, it was similar to what people commonly call love. It meant that in a year, the answer would come out whether this strange condition was truly a mistake of pheromones, or if he really had an attachment to him that was more than just simple friendship and respect.

‘…….’

Having no other choice, Sejin left the hospital and decided to give himself time. One year from now. If things did not get better even after focusing solely on fencing without thinking about anything else, then the doctor would be right that it was a psychological issue. On the other hand, if a moment came during that time when he felt fine, as if nothing had ever happened, then it would be because of a simple pheromone malfunction. I like him, I don’t like him. I like him, I don’t like him…. He was just forced to check over the course of a year the feelings that others divine by plucking petals one by one from a flower.

However, even as time passed, the thirst did not hit rock bottom. Finally, at midnight on the day Sejin became an adult by Korean age. The maximum one-year statute of limitations the hospital had talked about had long since ended, yet with his symptoms unchanged, Sejin had to admit it. I like that person. So there are feelings that don’t fade away even if he disappears from sight and I can no longer hear any news of him.

Right after that, after a long wait, he heard from an agency official that Taehyun had more or less finished his rehabilitation and was starting to prepare for competitions again. Sejin doubted his ears. His heart was beating so fast he almost collapsed on the spot. He wanted to meet Taehyun right now, but he felt that if he did, he would run away from him. He was a person who had vanished as if he were dead from the shock of his injury and withdrawal. No matter what he, who had prepared for the competition together with him yet achieved such a different result, said, it would surely sound like deceit and hypocrisy to him now that he was just stepping back out into the world.

Then what should I do. Sejin fell into thought for a moment, and then, after taking a considerable amount of time, he came to a conclusion. If Taehyun succeeded in safely overcoming his injury, he would prepare for the Olympics again, which would be in about three years. It would be a different story if he was pushed out by his juniors and failed to be selected in the trials then, but Sejin believed in Taehyun’s skills. Although they could not face each other in the arena because their sports were different, that conviction would not be shaken. In the first place, if he were a person without skill, he would not have achieved such results in the Asian Games or other international competitions. Therefore, Taehyun would surely return.

If he wanted to hold him in his arms, he had to aim for when he was most off his guard. Because he, while pretending to be affectionate, is very cunning and cowardly, once he fails and runs away, he will never come near him again. The opportunity was once in a lifetime.

🤺

Twenty-two, twenty-eight, summer, 36℃

Finally looking at Taehyun, who was asleep while holding him with his whole body, Sejin suddenly pinched his own cheek while lying face to face with Taehyun. He could not believe if this was reality. When he squeezed, it stung with a dull ache, so it wasn’t a dream. The firm chest rising and falling with a calm, soft breathing, saek saek, the warm body temperature against his bare skin, and the sweet lingering afterscent of pheromones were all real. It was strange. Sejin stared blankly at Taehyun’s sleeping face, then hugged him back tightly, kwaak, and rubbed his cheek against his chest. Traces of their actions right before falling asleep remained all over his body. Sejin scanned Taehyun’s mottled bare skin with a blatant gaze and then kissed his lightly closed lips.

Chup, at first, he intended to just lightly press and pull away a few times like a bird pecking with its beak, but at that moment.

“Euum….”

Taehyun, without even opening his eyes, moaned and tried to shift, slightly parting his lips. Sejin did not miss that brief opening and devoured Taehyun’s lips. If Taehyun were in his right mind, he would have chided him the moment he woke up, asking what dirty thing he was doing, but that was not a reason to stop Sejin. He had done worse things than this, what’s a little thing like this.

As Sejin cupped Taehyun’s face with his palm, stroking his cheek with his thumb and pushing his tongue in, Taehyun, in his sleep, widened his embrace to allow Sejin to penetrate his body more easily. It wasn’t like he was nagging him to hurry up and put it in, but as he, without even opening his eyes, swallowed a low groan, kkeueung, and spread his legs to make it easier for their stomachs to press together, trapping Sejin between them, Sejin’s face turned beet red at that seemingly trivial yet familiar-looking action.