Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 38

It was cold. Just like when I first met him, I felt fear. Has his gaze looking at me ever been this sharp? At least not recently. Yeon-woo, whose shoulders flinched, quickly avoided Ki-won’s eyes. I shouldn’t have looked. The churning inside grew even more after seeing Ki-won’s expression. 

Maybe he’s disappointed. Maybe he’s disappointed in me for being brazen after being rude. It all fitted together perfectly. The unabating tension made even my breath tremble. Yeon-woo, who swallowed his dry saliva, was watching Ki-won’s mood.

“Okay.”

“…Pardon?”

“You said it was a mistake. I said okay.”

“Oh… yes.”

Yeon-woo, who was stupidly replying with the same words, kept rubbing his head. Ki-won’s expression when he looked up again was no different than usual. Yeon-woo’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down at the frighteningly quick change of expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ki-won asked worriedly. Yeon-woo looked as if he had seen a ghost. It was to the point where him getting angry would be less scary. Unable to adapt to the atmosphere that changed in an instant, Yeon-woo couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“No… it’s nothing.”

Ki-won showed a faint smile at Yeon-woo’s bland answer. As if trying to end the conversation here, he pulled Yeon-woo’s arm gently.

“I think your throat must be very sore, so I bought some porridge. You’ll eat it, right?”

“What? Oh… yes….”

There was only one reason for his sore throat, so he almost choked. Is he really okay with it? Embarrassed that he was the only one flustered and confused by the mention of something that would remind him of that day.

I really have to erase it from my mind now. Even if it’s impossible to delete it completely, I tried not to recall it deliberately. Even if it came to mind, I just had to not show it on my face. At least while living with Ki-won, that’s how it had to be. The judgment that followed was that the way to apologize to him was to make that day seem like it never happened.

***

‘I finally feel like I can live a little.’

I was on my way to the hospital to find out why my heat cycle was hitting in short intervals. Yeon-woo had a relaxed face like someone who had let out a held breath. After finishing a meal where he couldn’t tell if the porridge was going into his nose or mouth, he hadn’t run into Ki-won. It was because he went into his study and didn’t come out, maybe to do his piled up work.

‘Can it be uncomfortable even when I’m not looking at his face….’

It wasn’t even a situation where he was facing him, but he was restless for no reason. They were in different spaces, the study and the bedroom, but he was suffocating. It must be because I’m guilty. Even if I repeated to forget, his cold expression was still engraved in my head.  

‘Why did I drink at that time….’

I wasn’t someone who liked alcohol, but this opportunity made me completely stay away from it. I kept regretting that if I hadn’t drunk and stayed sober, I would have been able to cope with the heat cycle immediately.

Yeon-woo was sighing heavily as he pulled his breath from his lower abdomen. That’s when the driver in the driver’s seat announced the arrival at the destination. Yeon-woo quickly got out of the car and entered the university hospital. As a rule, when your head is complicated, you have to move busily.

Maybe because it was a university hospital, there were many people even on weekdays. If I hadn’t made a reservation, I would have spent the whole day just waiting.

“Seeing how he carefully takes care of me, it doesn’t seem like he’s very angry…”

Ki-won had made the hospital reservation yesterday. Yeon-woo, who noticed that he only thought about Kwon Ki-won whenever he had a chance, lightly hit his own cheek. It hadn’t even been a few minutes since I decided to get myself together, but I was already trying to slack off again.

‘Seo Yeon-woo, let’s get it together, okay?’

Even if Ki-won lost affection for me because of yesterday’s incident, there was nothing wrong with that. Although it’s a pity that my ending with him isn’t good, the future of divorce doesn’t change. So there was no need for this kind of useless worry.

“I’m Seo Yeon-woo, I have an appointment with the pheromone department.”

Yeon-woo headed to the reception desk and lightly bowed his head to the staff.

“Your reservation has been confirmed. Please go to the blood collection room and wait in front of the pheromone department exam room number 1.

“Yes.”

I’m sure it’s nothing serious. It’s as if the heat cycle symptoms have completely disappeared in less than a day. Hoping there was no problem with the pheromone gland, Yeon-woo moved his steps to the blood collection room.

***

“Seo Yeon-woo-nim, please come in.”

When Yeon-woo was arranging the sleeves he had rolled up for blood collection, his turn came. Yeon-woo, who was waiting to hear the results of the blood test, crossed the threshold of the pheromone department exam room number 1.

“Seo Yeon-woo-nim? You came because your heat cycle period is abnormal.”

The director seemed to be examining the patient’s blood test results, staring at the monitor. Yeon-woo answered yes to the director’s words and sat down. Yeon-woo’s shoulders were very shrunken in an atmosphere that seemed to say there was a serious problem.

Tension mounted at the director’s silent attitude for a while, and sweat seeped from his palms. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Yeon-woo broke the silence by asking a question first.

“Is my condition not very good?”

“Hmm… Looking at it, your pheromone levels are quite high. Just looking at the levels, it can’t even be seen as recessive.”

“What…? That can’t be.”

Yeon-woo had no choice but to immediately shake his head. There was a reason for insisting that something was wrong. How can the pheromone level be high when there was a defect in the pheromone gland due to an acquired accident? Yeon-woo waved his hand, saying it was impossible.

“Have you recently bonded with an alpha?”

The doctor who confirmed that Yeon-woo was married through the patient’s personal information asked in a low voice. Yeon-woo answered no without hesitation. He was able to give an immediate answer because bonding referred to the act of alphas and omegas imprinting on each other.

“No….”

“And there was no situation that was suspected of imprinting?”

“Yes, I never even considered imprinting in the first place.”

“Well, well…”

The doctor tilted his head, saying that this was a very strange situation.

“Why?”

“A sudden rise in pheromone levels is a typical symptom of imprinting. If it’s true that a bond has been formed, the heat cycle period also changes abnormally. Then, your condition can be fully explained.”

“Is that so? Hmm…”

Yeon-woo thoroughly searched through his head, but no matter how much he rummaged, no situation that could lead to imprinting came to mind. The only alpha around him was Ki-won, and even if he had imprinted on him, he would have noticed it right away.

‘Above all, a bond must be formed mutually.’

Even if, hypothetically, he imprinted on Ki-won without knowing, it couldn’t be a bond because it wasn’t mutual imprinting.

As Yeon-woo’s thoughts seemed to grow longer, the director added an explanation.

“The reason why the heat cycle period becomes abnormal is to match the timing with the partner’s rut. That’s why special caution is needed in the early stages of imprinting. The heat cycle hits relentlessly until the periods are perfectly matched.”

Listening to the explanation, it became clear that it wasn’t because of a bond. Although it was troublesome that the heat cycle hit suddenly, it wasn’t to the level of being relentless.

“I don’t think it’s an imprinting issue…. Ah, could there be an effect from living with a dominant alpha?”

The doctor, who was thinking as much as Yeon-woo, slowly nodded his head.

“It’s not completely impossible, but I can’t say it’s unconditionally true either.”

When talking about imprinting, his tone was confident, but now it was oddly deflated. The reason was that while living together can change the pheromone cycle, it is difficult to significantly affect the pheromone level.

“Still, it’s hard to completely rule out that assumption. If it’s certain that it’s not imprinting, I’ll prescribe a pheromone level stabilizer. Let’s take it for about a week and then do a blood test again.”

“Yes, I understand.”

If the results remain the same even after taking the stabilizer, a close examination would be necessary. It wasn’t a disease that was a big problem right away, but the uneasiness didn’t go away. After finishing the consultation, Yeon-woo clumsily got up from his seat and went back the way he came. Having to go back to the house where Ki-won would be, his feet felt endlessly heavy.

***

“I’m back.”

With the medicine bag tucked under his arm, Yeon-woo took off his shoes and carefully looked around. He was worried about what to do if Ki-won was in the living room, but not even an ant’s shadow could be seen. Wondering if he might run into Ki-won coming out of the study, Yeon-woo raised his heels and crossed the quiet living room with quick steps. It was just as he was about to open the bedroom door and insert his body.

“Oh, hyung?”

Surprisingly, Ki-won, who he thought would be in the study, was in the bedroom. Moreover, it seemed he was in the middle of changing clothes, with his top half taken off. Startled, he tried to take back the steps he had taken, but failed as Ki-won attempted to start a conversation.

“What did they say at the hospital?”

“Ah… They said my pheromone levels have gone up. For now, I have to take medicine for about a week, and if the levels remain the same, I’ll need a thorough examination.”

Ki-won clicked his tongue, making his Adam’s apple move. Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head and timidly entered the bedroom. On a normal day, he would have flopped on the bed or chatted endlessly by Ki-won’s side, but now that the awkwardness had reached its peak, there was nothing he could do.

No matter how embarrassing, I should take off my outer clothing. To act like usual, when he was about to brush past Ki-won.

“Oh? Why is there a wound here…?”

Yeon-woo, who was about to unconsciously ask how he got hurt, abruptly stopped. Straight linear scratches. Looking closely, they were nail marks. Yeon-woo, who let out a silent scream, staggered back like someone who had encountered a ghost.

“Wound? Ah, this?”

Ki-won pointed to his own wound with his chin, as if he knew or didn’t know Yeon-woo’s noisy inner workings. There was a subtle smile on the corner of his mouth.