I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Episode 108

Episode 108

As the alcohol entered his system, his senses that had been on edge loosened. Jae-young, who had been spending time roughly answering his friends’ questions and occasionally laughing at their silly jokes, was waving his hand without even realizing that he was completely drunk.

However, if there was one thing he was mistaken about, it was that although he thought he was no longer thinking of Seung-hyun, in reality, as his tension was released, he was unconsciously voicing the thoughts inside his heart.

“…I hope he’s not in pain. He didn’t even tell me properly.”

“What is?”

“Ah, the thing I asked about last time.”

Wonho, who was also in a state of relaxed tension due to the alcohol, unknowingly leaked information. His friends, not missing that moment, swarmed the two like a group of bees.

“What did you ask about last time? Ah, he looked a bit suspicious earlier. Does this guy really not have a lover?”

“I don’t have a lover.”

“Then someone you’re flirting with?”

“I don’t.”

“How boring.”

One friend who had rushed over first soon lost interest and returned to his seat. However, there were also some who persistently asked.

“Then someone you used to flirt with?”

“Why are you asking things like that?”

“……”

Wonho tried to mediate in his own way, but it was the same for everyone who had alcohol. Those who were looking at Jae-young in anticipation of an answer and Jae-young who was only fiddling with his glass without answering became good drinking companions.

“It definitely seems like something happened.”

“Try saying it. If it’s something that’s already over, you should talk about it and shake it off.”

Normally, he would have ignored it and lightly changed the subject, but his throbbing head, lowered guard, and the recent situation where he was so confused that he wanted to seek advice from anyone made him hesitate.

“……”

His friends who thought that if they pleaded a little more, he would tell them, encouraged Jae-young. After hesitating for a long time, Jae-young shook his head, thinking that this was not right no matter what.

“What would I say to loose-lipped guys like you?”

“There’s no trust. No trust.”

“Isn’t that too much?”

His friends grumbled but didn’t deny it and shook their heads. They were not young enough to not know how easily a story told at a drinking party spreads.

“Yeah. I’ll stop bothering you before you run away.”

Wonho, who was relatively more gentlemanly, calmed his friends down. Although he was curious, if Jae-young didn’t want to say it, he didn’t want to hear it to the point of forcing him.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t. We’re not little kids anymore, and we’re past the age of being obsessed with these things.”

But it’s human psychology to not want to say it when told to say it, and to want to say it when told you don’t have to. Moreover, unlike the other guys, Wonho didn’t seem like the type to spread rumors lightly.

“……”

There was no need to talk about it deeply, but couldn’t he ask a few more things following last time? After thinking for a while, Jae-young started fiddling with his cell phone. Hoping that it would help somehow, he found the photos he had taken and stared at them intently.

This much should be okay, right? Rather than leaving doubts unresolved until the end… Asking about it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

As he thought that, he stared at the photos for a long time. Seeing Jae-young unable to take his eyes off his phone, Wonho was the first to take an interest in him.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“…Do you know what this is?”

Jae-young handed the photo to Wonho. It was a picture of the kits placed around the house.

“It’s a pheromone detection kit. It’s a common item used in places where betas and ferals are together. Betas can’t detect pheromones, but it would be troublesome to let an omega into a place filled with alpha pheromones.”

“…In the case of using it at home?”

“Well, similarly, it’s often used when there are both ferals and non-ferals among family members. We rarely see it.”

Whether dominant or recessive, if you were a feral, you could feel pheromones, so it was an item Jae-young had no chance to come across. But even after learning the identity of the object, his doubts did not disappear.

‘Han Seung-hyun… is an alpha.’

He was definitely an alpha, even if he was recessive. Is it necessary to have something like this even though he has no housemates, even if poor health affects pheromones?

“Then in the case of using it in a house without betas?”

“What?”

“If this is scattered in a house where an alpha lives alone, how should I interpret that situation?”

Jae-young asked with a serious face. Wonho, who had also become serious, fell into thought. In a house where an alpha lives alone, arranged to the extent that it can be described as scattered…

“First of all, it means it’s a situation where you can’t detect pheromones, and it’s a situation where it’s difficult to control it yourself.”

Usually, alphas or omegas, even if they are recessive, can properly detect their own condition and pheromones. That was instinctive.

Although they could be released unconsciously, if that time was prolonged, even if they couldn’t feel the pheromones, they would notice the changes in their body.

However, there were definitely cases where even that instinctive ability was lost to the extent that the pheromone glands were broken. There could be several reasons, but one thing was certain: it was not a very good sign.

“And since the pheromones can’t be properly controlled and might run rampant, they would have placed them in various places to detect and treat them as quickly as possible.”

“……”

“Or well, there are also cases where pheromone detection is temporarily lost due to minor illnesses… It could have been prepared just in case.”

The last case was a low-probability one, but seeing Jae-young’s face that had become such a mess, he felt like he had to say something positive. Wonho was thinking about what to say when he unconsciously swiped the photo to the side and discovered something, freezing on the spot.

“This is…”

Wonho enlarged the photo and examined the shape of the pills closely. No matter how many times he looked, it didn’t change.

Jae-young, who confirmed that Wonho’s expression was unusual, felt anxious and asked,

“Why. What is this?”

“Well…”

“For what sickness do you take this?”

“No, this is just a painkiller. So I can’t know exactly what the problem is, but…”

However, there was also a fact that could be confirmed with only limited information. A body so messed up that it couldn’t detect its own pheromones, strong painkillers kept readily available around the house, considering these two, it was clear that it wouldn’t be a hopeful condition.

It was a drug that focused on reducing the immediate pain even considering the side effects that could occur with long-term use.

Jae-young, feeling anxious at the unanswered question, urged Wonho. After thinking for a moment, Wonho answered,

“…It’s quite a strong one among painkillers… It’s a drug that’s not usually prescribed.”

“……”

“Mainly for patients who have had a major accident, or for those receiving hospice care…”

Jae-young got up from his seat before Wonho could finish his words. As Jae-young suddenly got up, his surprised friends’ gazes were momentarily drawn to him.

“What is it?”

“What were you talking about that you’re so surprised?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“If it’s nothing, why does his face look like that?”

“He drank a lot, so that’s why. He must be drunk. I think we should send him back now.”

Wonho took care of the dazed Jae-young and came out. It didn’t seem like a topic to discuss lightly.

“Can I ask what your relationship is?”

Wonho, who had moved to a quiet place, carefully asked Jae-young, who was blankly lost in thought. Who was the owner of that medicine that he had such a dazed look on his face?

‘It doesn’t seem to be family… Since he said he’s an alpha, he probably isn’t a lover either.’

“…We don’t have any relationship.”

“It doesn’t look like the face of someone with no relationship.”

Jae-young thought for a moment and shook his head. He wanted to become someone special, but a relationship cannot be one-sided. If he could become someone special with his own words, he would have given that relationship a name several times already, but Seung-hyun always rejected that name.

If it was when he thought their hearts were the same, he might have given an answer that left room, but now he couldn’t do that. The way Seung-hyun made him want to have expectations while not giving him any expectations came to mind, making it difficult to answer easily.

“I wish we could be something, but I can’t force it if he says no even if it kills him.”

Jae-young ruffled his hair and frowned. In addition to his lingering feelings about the relationship, he also learned about Seung-hyun’s health. It only added to his confusion, considering he had come out to try to forget.

“I don’t know what kind of relationship it is… but it seems like you care a lot.”

He was curious why Jae-young had such a face when he said it wasn’t an omega but an alpha, and that they couldn’t be lovers or any kind of relationship, but he wasn’t thoughtless enough to ask such a thing after seeing his friend’s distressed appearance.

“It’s easier to let go of a relationship that won’t work out quickly. It’s better for you, and since that person wants that, forgetting each other is the right thing to do for both of you. It’s a bit awkward to say this, but… it’s more fortunate that you’re not in any special relationship. I don’t really want to recommend being next to a sick person.”

Wonho lightly patted Jae-young’s back and said. They were words of comfort, but they didn’t really resonate with Jae-young.

“Just forget it. Since you said it’s already an ended relationship, it’s even better.”

More than his bitter stomach, more than his startled and messed up mind, he was worried about Seung-hyun’s condition. Because he knew he couldn’t escape from him at all.

Because he couldn’t control himself wanting to run to him right away. Jae-young, who let the words he heard flow away, clenched his fists.