Heavy Rain Chapter 71

Hearing the word recessive, the identity of Lyle’s imprinting partner became even clearer. As the situation grew increasingly absurd, the doctor felt overwhelmed by a bleak sense of duty to make him realize the gravity of the matter.

How does he intend to survive without even informing the other person of the imprint?

“If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. However, it will be difficult to hide it anyway.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“The party who has imprinted—that is, you, Mr. Vermouth—will harbor blind emotions toward the other person. Because it is an intense sensation, it will become increasingly difficult to perfectly suppress your pheromones in front of them.”

“…”

“Furthermore, pheromones that cannot be suppressed will emerge carrying very primal emotions. They say it’s difficult to even fake it. Therefore, the other person cannot help but feel a sense of incongruity, a feeling that something is strange.”

“Is that so.”

So this was what it meant to be unable to hide it. Lyle fell into a reasonable suspicion that perhaps his mother had known this fact. Did she perhaps want to reveal her feelings toward his father without any misunderstanding?

At any rate, that wasn’t what was important right now; the priority was enduring a situation that was becoming increasingly difficult. After all, wasn’t pathologically suppressing pheromones something Lyle had always been good at?

Now, he had to handle the most important part of today’s visit.

“For starters, I would appreciate it if the primary care physician also worked hard to keep his mouth shut from now on.”

Lyle’s aura, which had been quietly listening until now, changed abruptly. Even without leaking any pheromones, a massive sense of pressure poured toward the doctor.

By the time the doctor thought he saw a hint of madness in those eyes, he barely managed to nod. In any case, his life and career were at stake. Hadn’t he already been moving in secret while researching the imprint?

“I… understand.”

The doctor suddenly thought to himself that Lyle, who had lived his whole life suppressing his dominant traits, had seemed quite like a dominant type lately.

𓂃ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ 🍂༄˖°

Lyle was afraid to open his eyes in the morning these days.

After staring at Haejin’s endlessly sorrowful face in his dreams, he would wake up feeling a sudden surge of fear. Yes, this was fear. Lyle had come to naturally understand that he was scared of seeing that face again in reality.

Every time, he struggled to push down his thirst and prepared to go out. Even so, he didn’t realize that by the time he headed toward Haejin’s room, he was walking almost at a run.

Picking up the bell, Lyle repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists in tension. If he didn’t respond to the request again, what should he do?

“Yes.”

Fortunately, a reply came from inside.

Haejin, who was sitting in the drawing room, looked back at Lyle as he entered with an expressionless face. He was wearing wide-legged pants that looked comfortable. Seeing that the top and bottom were the same color, it seemed to be a matching set.

Carefully watching the pants, which were wide enough to hide the cast, he cautiously checked Haejin’s complexion. He was curious if Haejin had opened the door because of the prior message saying there was something urgent to discuss, or if it was okay to eat breakfast together as usual.

Lyle made a plan to say what absolutely had to be said first.

“May I sit down for a moment?”

“Yes.”

As he carefully took a seat opposite Haejin, the distance between them closed slightly. It was only a single step, but his body wanted to run wild with joy at that small gain.

While feigning calm composure, Lyle chose his words with care. He was gauging how much Haejin would find the proposal he was about to make offensive.

“First of all, I intend to immediately provide the compensation specified in the previous contract.”

“…”

The gaze staring blankly at him still contained the unspoken question of “why.”

Lyle closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to face Haejin directly. The proposal he had reviewed all day yesterday was essentially created to answer the boy’s question.

“You can think of it as payment for the favor I’m about to ask.”

Haejin’s doubt was natural. Lyle had been entirely one-sided until now. Both when he brought him back to this mansion and when he imprinted alone. So, it wouldn’t make sense to him that Lyle now needed Haejin more than anything.

That was why Lyle intended to create a pretext. So that Haejin could find a reason for his proposal. So that Lyle could find a chance to make amends by his side, even for a little longer.

He wanted to know more about the boy. He simply wanted to face him. And he desperately wanted to place even a small compensation in those hands. Though he couldn’t fully understand it, the excuse of having imprinted allowed him to set many complicated thoughts aside.

“I heard that you helped me a lot during my rut period.”

When he opened his eyes and saw Haejin beside him, he had been very surprised. That was why he found out the whole story as soon as he regained his senses. He had been worried that he might have gone to Haejin and treated him roughly again.

Fortunately, although he seemed to have acted a bit foolishly, it appeared he hadn’t done anything irreversible. In particular, he heard that Haejin had taken the initiative to come to his room to provide pheromones.

“…What does that have to do with this compensation?”

“It’s a method I’ve found as an alternative for pheromone relief. I’d like you to do something similar to what you did then.”

Haejin’s eyes narrowed at the mention of pheromone relief, as if gauging the true intent behind those words. Lyle steadily endured that gaze.

Soon, with a faint sigh, Haejin asked.

“I think I’ll need a detailed explanation.”

“…I want to ask for a pheromone shower. About an hour every day. I think that will eliminate the need for any other relief.”

Even as he spoke, Lyle couldn’t hide his embarrassment and tilted his head slightly. A pheromone shower was literally the act of enveloping the other person with pheromones. It was a method usually used as proof of affection, and depending on the emotions put into the pheromones, it was also used as a means for marking.

Since it was an act he shouldn’t dare demand of Haejin, Lyle quietly waited for an answer. It felt as if he were waiting for a sentence to be passed.

He felt incredibly fortunate that the imprint he had selfishly made had no effect on Haejin.

“Is it because of the compatibility of those pheromones?”

“Yes.”

The fact that his and Haejin’s pheromones were highly compatible had already been discovered during the previous medical examination. He wished he could have hidden that too, but since things had turned out this way, he intended to use it as an excuse.

He affirmed it, but the boy remained silent. A sudden fear surged that Haejin might be worried about a potential accident. After much thought, he cautiously offered a countermeasure for that as well.

“…If you don’t trust me, you can tie me up.”

“…”

Lyle’s downcast eyelashes sparkled gold in the morning sun. Haejin, who was looking at that brilliant appearance apathetically, had to furrow his brow in distress again.

The more the servants treated him kindly and the more Lyle paid attention to him, the more uncomfortable Haejin felt. These were all things he would eventually have to leave behind. He had never wished for such warmth in this mansion to begin with. No, he once had, but that expectation had long since been washed away by the heavy rain.

There wasn’t much he wanted. If he could leave right now, it would be ideal, but if that was difficult, he wanted to say goodbye to this mansion the moment the contract period ended. However, Lyle kept wandering near the line Haejin had drawn. Just like the day he wandered near his room, out of his mind during his rut.

He had a strong premonition that if he didn’t resolve this body issue of his, it would cause a major setback in the plans he had made for after the contract.

And honestly, it wasn’t even that difficult a task. He had waited in high tension because Lyle said he had something to tell him, but an unexpectedly surprising proposal had come his way. Especially since Lyle was in his right mind, what did it matter if he just went in front of him and scattered some pheromones? It was even more so because Haejin hadn’t properly understood the social significance of a pheromone shower.

I guess it can’t be helped.

“I have one condition.”

Of course, Haejin had no reason to accept this proposal. Especially considering the wrongs Lyle had done to him.

However, he decided to give it a try for the sake of a cleaner conclusion. It would also be quite troublesome if the compensations Lyle was offering were to be transferred to him right now.

“That compensation you said you’d give in advance.”

“Yes.”