From Divorce to Dusk Chapter 7.9

「Ah, Executive Director Han arrived, but they said there is no umbrella in the car, so Secretary Oh asked if someone could possibly come out to the main gate.」

「Ah, I see. Then I’ll go out instead.」

「No—ah, oh my, look at my head. Yes, I’m boiling soup, so I think I have to watch it! So, I’ll leave it to you.」

The housekeeper quickly handed the umbrella to Jaekyung. Jaekyung stepped out of the front door holding the umbrella. It was raining quite a bit more than it appeared from inside the house. Since one had to walk a fair distance across the garden between the house and the main gate, it was obvious that without an umbrella, one would get soaked whether running or walking.

If someone saw this, they might say, ‘Just let him come in the rain,’ since there wasn’t a single pretty thing about the situation, but thinking that as a decent human being he shouldn’t feign ignorance while holding an umbrella in his hand, Jaekyung opened the umbrella and trudged toward the main gate. Secretary Oh, who was standing anxiously in front of the gate, was startled to see Jaekyung.

Come to think of it, couldn’t he have just told Secretary Oh to take the umbrella? He wondered, but seeing both of the man’s hands full of things, he understood the reason instantly.

「Executive Director.」

As Secretary Oh restlessly called Executive Director Han toward the car, the man stepped out, looked at Jaekyung with a slight look of surprise, and then furrowed his brows. It seemed he hadn’t expected Jaekyung to come out at all. Still, seeing such a blatantly surprised face makes it feel a bit… embarrassing. Did I come out for nothing?

「You’re… home.」

「Yes.」

He stood stoically in front of Jaekyung. Jaekyung handed him the umbrella he was holding. And for a few seconds… Executive Director Han stared intently at Jaekyung. He looked at his hands, looked at his face, looked at his eyes, and then looked at his hands again. Why on earth?

「Let’s go in.」

「Ah, yes.」

Without taking the umbrella Jaekyung held out, he stood beside Jaekyung. Only then did Jaekyung realize. Oh my god, he hadn’t brought an extra umbrella. How pathetic. Jaekyung was so ashamed of his own foolishness that he couldn’t lift his head. How stupid must he have looked? Holding out an umbrella so confidently like that. Jaekyung kept his head bowed and walked through the garden, standing awkwardly side-by-side with Han Taesuk.

Since the umbrella was small, Taesuk’s shoulder and Jaekyung’s shoulder both got damp on one side, but what was more bothersome than that was the silence felt throughout the walk. The path to the front door had never felt so long and far. Jaekyung tried hard to think of other things. Looking at the leaves bouncing in the rain, the trees about to bloom, and the garden that was always neatly manicured, he suddenly felt as if the scent of the rain was healing him. The scent of nature. As Jaekyung inhaled, he suddenly covered his nose and mouth at the nauseating scent of another person’s pheromones.

「Ugh—!」

Jaekyung covered his mouth, escaped the awkward space under the umbrella, and vomited right there near a cluster of trees. Surprised by this, Han Taesuk approached Jaekyung. The umbrella had already rolled away some distance and failed to protect the two of them.

「Mr. Park Jaekyung. Are you okay?」

Since Jaekyung’s body had been gradually recovering, it was the first time he had seen him like this recently. Had his condition worsened again? As Han Taesuk tried to grab the shoulder of the vomiting Jaekyung while being hit by the rain, Jaekyung swatted his hand away.

「Don’t come near- ugh! Please- that smell.」

Smell?

「The other pheromones on the Executive Director’s body—!」

Other pheromones… were all over Han Taesuk’s body. The owner of those pheromones was an Omega, and it was a marking left on an Alpha by an Omega whose heat cycle was approaching. Otherwise, there was no way such pheromones could be felt. It’s disgusting. How, how could there be such a disgusting pheromone? Is this how another Omega’s pheromones are supposed to feel? No. It wasn’t. Other Omegas’ pheromones were sweet, clean, and always gave a sense of peace, but these pheromones were giving a silent warning not to get close to Han Taesuk.

「Ah, I see.」

Han Taesuk made a slightly troubled face. It was a look that suggested he knew instantly which pheromones Jaekyung was talking about. Jaekyung was dazed, receiving a fresh shock from that face and his nonchalant tone. The fact that he came home with the scent still on him, despite being a dominant Alpha who was fully capable of erasing it, meant that what Jaekyung felt was not a lie.

「Get up for now.」

Han Taesuk reached out a hand to Jaekyung. However, Jaekyung ignored that hand, grabbed a tree firmly to pull himself up, and staggered into the house. It was miserable. Did he have to confirm it in such a certain way? He could have just asked for a divorce. Why- how far is he going to make a person miserable? Even if he is just a useless person kept around, this is too much. No, that’s not it. That man clearly told Jaekyung to choose, and Jaeykung chose to stay here for the sake of his sister and his family. Then does he have to endure even being treated like this? Until when? To what extent?

「Mr. Park Jaekyung!」

He wants to get into the house quickly, but his feet are heavy. His head is dizzy and his breathing becomes ragged. Moving each step felt like he was dragging a thousand pounds. Why is this happening? Is he catching a cold from being in the rain? Even so, this is-

「Mr. Park Jaekyung!」

As if he is hearing tinnitus, echoes mix together and pound at Jaekyung’s ears. It’s the voice of a man he doesn’t want to hear. Feeling him approaching, he tried to run away, but his body wouldn’t follow, and he was immediately caught by the man. The man was also currently soaked from head to toe. Funnily enough, that sight was a bit satisfying. To see the man who always looked perfect like a drowned rat.

「Let go.」

「You—do you realize your pheromones have become strong right now?」

「Pheromones…?」

Ah, he can feel it. Pheromones are leaking out little by little. And deep inside his body, there is a ticklish sensation. He knows this feeling. Jaekyung snapped to his senses. Oh my god. A heat cycle is coming—hurry, the suppressant. Jaekyung flailed, trying to hurry inside the house. At that moment, he heard the low mutter of the man holding his arm.

「It’s a heat cycle. Mr. Park Jaekyung.」

Along with the pheromones erupting from the man’s body.

It was a pheromone he was feeling for the first time. It was so strong and thick that he felt dizzy for a moment. This was the first time he encountered this man in a state where his pheromones were released while he was conscious. Furthermore, to be unable to control it like this, and for his own body to react this way, clearly meant that the man’s rut had begun. Why all of a sudden?

Certainly, until they parted earlier, he hadn’t shown these symptoms. Jaekyung instinctively felt overwhelmed by the pheromones and tried to step back in fear, but the man’s strength grew even stronger, and he simply wrapped the Omega in his pheromones. Moreover, a marked Omega was all the more prey for a rut.

Jaekyung’s legs trembled violently. His breath grew shorter, and separate from his body being drenched in rain, his body was heating up from the pheromones, and from the opening below, lubrication was flowing out in spurts. He didn’t want to follow his instincts. But the instinct was too strong and temptingly seductive enough to make him curse. Jaekyung’s body gradually leaned toward Han Taesuk.

Han Taesuk also accepted Jaekyung as a matter of course. He didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to be held by this man in this way again—he pushed him away with what little reason he had left, but it was merely a small rustling movement, and Han Taesuk looked down at the struggling Jaekyung.

「Executive Director.」

Secretary Oh, who had detected Han Taesuk’s rut pheromones, came running in a hurry to hold an umbrella over them and sighed as he looked at Jaekyung leaning weakly in his arms.

「A sudden rut.」

「…」

Compared to the struggling Jaekyung, Han Taesuk looked at Jaekyung with deep eyes, his breathing not even slightly disturbed.

「You must not take rut suppressants this time. Because you took them last time as well.」

For an Alpha, especially a dominant Alpha, rut suppressants were not very pleasant. They made the body heavy for days and made the nerves sensitive, so it was best not to take them if possible, and even if one did, they should not be taken consecutively. Since Han Taesuk had already taken the medicine when another rut came after marking Jaekyung, he could no longer receive help from suppressants this time.

「Is it because of Kim Seohan?」

Kim Seohan…? It’s a name he’s heard a lot somewhere. Kim Seohan. Kim….

「I think it would be best to go inside for now. It will be a problem if you catch a cold.」

Secretary Oh spoke worriedly as he looked at the increasingly limp Jaekyung, and Han Taesuk carried Jaekyung into the house. The housekeeper was horrified to see the two soaked people and brought a large blanket, and he took Jaekyung straight to the bed and laid him down. What should be done? Suppressants? Or should he hold Park Jaekyung again? Since Park Jaekyung was also currently in heat, if they were to perform a marking, now was the time.

However, it wasn’t very pleasant to perform a marking while he was unconscious again. Moreover, even if his condition had improved, since marking required knotting, the burden on the body was significant, so Han Taesuk had to calculate and weigh things as a habit, wondering if another headache-inducing situation would arise. Which side was more beneficial to him.