I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Side Story 13

Side Story 13

Side Story 4. Meeting and Change (4)

“You know how Raon’s omega pheromones stimulated my pheromone glands again. But now Raon is born, and there’s no internal stimulation of the pheromone glands, so in half a year I’ll become completely beta… that’s what they said. So…”

“So?”

“…For half a year, I’m no different from an omega. But, since I’m not a typical omega, medication won’t work, so… well…”

Seung-hyun mumbled, desperately wishing Jae-young would catch on before he had to say it outright.

“Um, ah… so…”

“You can’t go outside? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re not bored even at home…”

“No, that’s not what I mean…”

“If we explain the situation to the family, they won’t bother us unnecessarily. Don’t worry about it.”

He was considerate but oblivious. No, he wasn’t usually this dense, so why now of all times?

‘No, I couldn’t have imagined this either. Right. I shouldn’t beat around the bush, just get it over with quickly.’

Seung-hyun took a small deep breath. Heat cycle. That damn heat cycle. Why was he so embarrassed about it?

“…It’s going to come. Once or twice during the half year…”

“What? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

But contrary to his resolve, his voice came out in a whisper. Seung-hyun took another deep breath and opened his mouth. This time, his voice was a bit louder, no, actually too loud.

“Heat cycle! It’s going to come!”

“Waaah!”

Startled by the sudden loud voice, Raon woke up and started crying. A flustered Seung-hyun froze on the spot while Jae-young rushed to the room to comfort the baby.

“Did you get scared? It’s okay. Let’s go back to sleep. Want to walk a bit?”

“Waaah, aaah…”

It was a mess of a confession.

***

“As you can see, the numbers are different from the last checkup. It’s good you came. The heat cycle seems to be coming faster than expected. At this rate… it might come twice.”

Three months later, Seung-hyun visited the hospital feeling unwell, and was diagnosed that his heat cycle would come soon. Although he knew about it, it felt strange to hear it was right around the corner.

“As early as two days… at most five days? It’s a good thing you came today.”

“…Then, what should I…”

“I recommend leaving the child with someone for about a week. It might not be comfortable for you, but… you can’t take care of her in that state, and your family lives nearby…”

In the end, it meant he had to spend the heat cycle with Jae-young. It wasn’t their first time sleeping together, so why did it feel so strange? Seung-hyun left the hospital and called Jae-young.

“I just finished the checkup.”

“What did they say? You’re not sick, are you?”

“I’m not sick… they said it might come sooner than expected. It could start as early as two days from now, or at the latest, sometime this week.”

“That’s much earlier than we thought. Okay, I understand. You’re coming straight home, right?”

“Yeah, I’m heading back now.”

He had left Raon with the sitter and Jae-young for a short while. Seung-hyun immediately took a taxi home.

“Woo woo.”

“Welcome back.”

Raon, now able to hold her head up on her own, greeted Seung-hyun in Jae-young’s arms. Her once wrinkly face had now fully taken shape.

“I’m back.”

“Hehe.”

When their eyes met, Raon giggled and reached out to be held by Seung-hyun. When Seung-hyun stepped back, saying he needed to wash his hands first, Raon looked shocked.

“Uu, uuu…”

Never in her life had she been refused when asking to be held, so she seemed shocked that her favorite parent wouldn’t hold her. Seeing big tears welling up in her eyes, Seung-hyun thought he should hurry and ran to the bathroom.

“Waaaah!”

“Raon, stop. Mommy will be right back. Just wait a moment… just a moment…”

“Waaaah, uwaah.”

They should install a bathroom right by the door. Seung-hyun ran to the unnecessarily distant bathroom to wash his hands and change clothes.

“Hwaang, hwaaa…”

“Raon. I’m back. Come here.”

It had only been about a minute, but seeing her cry as if the world had ended broke his heart. When Seung-hyun took Raon in his arms, she gripped his clothes tightly with her small hands, as if afraid he might run away.

“Maybe I should have taken her with me.”

“It was just a quick trip, so I went alone. She was quiet when I left, I didn’t expect this when I came back.”

After finally calming Raon down, the two started discussing their plans. They couldn’t keep Raon at home. It wouldn’t be right to expose her excessively to pheromones, and they couldn’t take care of her during the heat.

“I contacted Father while you were coming. He said it’s fine. He’d be happy to watch his granddaughter for three days.”

“That’s fine, but from what we saw earlier, Raon cries terribly when we’re not around. Today you were here, and you said you left quietly, but if we’re both gone…”

There’s a saying that parents are a child’s whole world. She’s lived a life where one or both of them were always by her side, so if she doesn’t see them for three days, won’t it feel like she’s in a different world?

“…The sitter agreed to commute to your family home for three days, so having one familiar face should be okay, right?”

“Even if she’s okay… she’s not even 100 days old yet, if we don’t see her for 3 days, won’t she forget our faces?”

Seung-hyun asked with a serious face. It’s heartbreaking if she’s sad because we’re not there, but on the other hand, what if she forgets our faces in three days?

This time, they couldn’t even video call like when he was hospitalized. Seung-hyun mumbled, voicing practical concerns.

“Sigh, there’s no guarantee the medication will work so I can’t take it. They said the first heat came too early so there might be two, what should we do then…”

“Don’t worry too much. If she forgets… no, our smart Raon wouldn’t do that.”

Jae-young comforted the worried Seung-hyun. The doting Jae-young thought his genius daughter wouldn’t forget her parents in just three days, but even if she did, it wouldn’t be a problem.

“We’ll be with her enough to make up for it, and more.”

“I guess… you’re right.”

Seung-hyun nodded. Maybe it was just an excuse. Raon might actually be fine after just a few hours, as if she had never cried. He just disliked having to go through the heat cycle and being separated from the child.

“Just in case, Father will come tomorrow to take Raon. It’s better to send her early than cutting it too close.”

“…I should contact them to say thanks.”

“They were actually happy about it. Saying they get to have their cute granddaughter all to themselves for a few days. I heard Mother was going to take three days off, but her secretary had to beg her not to.”

Jae-young joked to ease Seung-hyun’s tension. He probably hadn’t even properly experienced a rut, so a heat cycle must be quite overwhelming.

‘Well, even if it’s a heat… I don’t think it’ll be that different from usual.’

He couldn’t imagine Seung-hyun crumbling with pleasure and whining. Even during a heat cycle, he would probably try his best to keep his mind. That was the Seung-hyun Jae-young knew.

“Don’t worry. It’s only three days.”

Jae-young rested his head on Seung-hyun’s shoulder. Actually, it was also Jae-young’s first time spending nights with an omega in heat, but he wasn’t nervous.

‘I’ve never slept with one, but I’m familiar with omega pheromones. There were always people rushing to sleep with me…’

Thinking he could handle it as he always had, Jae-young briefly kissed Seung-hyun’s forehead.

***

“Waaaah!”

“Raon, Mommy and Daddy will be back after just three nights. Okay?”

“Waaah, aaaah!”

Everything was fine until Jae-young’s father came to take Raon. Since Raon wasn’t a shy child, Jae-young and Seung-hyun thought they could easily send her off when they saw her smiling brightly at her grandfather.

“Aaaah, uwaah.”

“Oh my, baby’s parents, just go inside quickly. She’s crying more because she can see you. Hurry inside, hurry!”

They waved goodbye at the entrance and were about to put her in the car when Raon realized Jae-young and Seung-hyun weren’t getting in. She started wailing loudly.

“Hwaang, hwaaaa…”

“Will she be okay?”

“…The sitter is there too, and she’ll be fine after a nap. You know too. It’s not good for trait babies to be excessively exposed to pheromones.”

Although they knew crying all day was better than excessive pheromone exposure, it was still upsetting. If only he had been a proper omega, so he could avoid the heat with medication.

“…Sigh.”

Seung-hyun sighed and sat on the sofa. Outside, they could hear Raon’s cries and the sound of the car starting.

‘I hope this ends quickly.’

He wished this useless hormone interference would end soon so he could see Raon again. Seung-hyun fiddled with the pheromone kit and sighed once more.