AOA 93

Baek Mugyeong couldn’t shake off the strange feeling, he followed Jeong Minchae outside the art museum building. Once they had moved far enough from the alpha hazard, Baek Mugyeong no longer needed to hold Jeong Minchae’s hand to stay unaffected by the pheromones.

But the remnants of arousal that had nearly pushed him into a rut lingered. That sensation was tangled with the thrill he had felt when holding Jeong Minchae’s hand.

Even though the awakening state had not yet faded, Baek Mugyeong assessed the situation calmly.

The stage he had set for Baek Yeongseop had succeeded perfectly. Not only had he humiliated Baek Yeongseop, but it had even triggered an Alpha Hazard.

Alphas losing control and fighting due to pheromones was common enough. Someone like Baek Jinseok, who took pride in his superior Alpha strength, might not even care too much.

But an Alpha Hazard breaking out in a public place would be hard to cover up. Even the Daesong Group wouldn’t be able to silence all the witnesses.

Baek Mugyeong was satisfied with the results he had orchestrated.

“That was my first time seeing an Alpha Hazard in person. What happens next?”

Baek Sujin, who had been watching Im Songyoon struggle to contain the situation, spoke casually.

Baek Mugyeong answered with what he knew.

“Most of them end up badly hurt. I heard they keep fighting even if their arms are broken and they can’t feel the pain. In rare cases, people die.”

“Really? That’s scary.”

Despite her words, Baek Sujin’s voice was tinged with amusement. Baek Jaehan, Baek Jinseok’s eldest son, only had one child, Baek Yeongseop. If Baek Yeongseop died here, Baek Jaehan’s position would be seriously shaken.

Baek Mugyeong, though not as gleeful as Baek Sujin, couldn’t help but hold out a sliver of hope. Unfortunately, Baek Yeongseop had only suffered minor injuries.

Once the situation settled, Baek Sujin waved and disappeared. Baek Mugyeong slowly turned to look at Jeong Minchae, who had been waiting quietly. Even while talking to Baek Sujin and observing the incident, half his awareness had been drawn to Jeong Minchae standing behind him.

That composed face, turned his way, held no sign of hesitation. The soft glow around him remained unchanged. It wasn’t an illusion.

“It’s over now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Where should we go? Home?”

Jeong Minchae clearly intended to have a conversation. His stiff expression silently warned that if this were postponed, he wouldn’t let it go later.

Baek Mugyeong had a rough idea of what Jeong Minchae wanted to say. Maybe they would end up fighting again. But his determination to send Jeong Minchae away hadn’t changed.

“Let’s go to a hotel. Not a room. I’ll rent a meeting room.”

“Alright.”

They couldn’t go back to the house where they had had sex so many times. To avoid being trapped in a closed room, the only option left was a public meeting room.

“Let’s move.”

Baek Mugyeong forced himself to look away from Jeong Minchae. He ignored the truth that what he was feeling wasn’t just desire.

*

“Hnnng…”

Jeong Minchae moaned, his body twisting atop the bed soaked with fluids. His tear-streaked face was flushed with heat, overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. His shoulders, neck, chest, waist, hips, and thighs were covered in handprints, bite marks, and suction marks.

His erect length kept twitching as semen dribbled out. His slim stomach and groin were messy with the sticky fluid.

Baek Mugyeong blinked as he looked down at Jeong Minchae, who was trembling. His overheated mind couldn’t clearly recall what had happened.

It had started in the hotel meeting room. Jeong Minchae had provoked him, though it hadn’t really been a provocation. Technically, Baek Mugyeong could have suppressed the impulse and sent him away. But he hadn’t.

The moment he thought about soaking Jeong Minchae in his pheromones, his body had acted on its own. He was intoxicated by the scent pouring off Jeong Minchae, who had collapsed onto the bed. Especially when Jeong Minchae looked up at him with teary, defiant eyes, his reason had snapped.

Everything after that became a blur. Only the intense pleasure remained, taking over his entire body.

Even now, after it was over, he couldn’t focus enough to think about how to clean up the situation. Just looking down at Jeong Minchae, crying and gasping for breath, made his heart feel like it might explode.

But the thirst wasn’t gone yet. He still wanted to breathe in Jeong Minchae’s pheromones, even deeper.

Baek Mugyeong reached out and pulled Jeong Minchae into his arms. He pressed his face against the slender, limp neck and inhaled deeply.

Jeong Minchae’s pheromones smelled like sweet cotton candy. The soft, ticklish sensation that wrapped around him felt like someone was squeezing his heart. The tension made him ache with longing.

“Haa… seriously, how many times are you planning to go?”

Now somewhat collected, Jeong Minchae grabbed Baek Mugyeong’s shoulder and complained. It was a gesture of protest, but his pheromones only intensified.

The change in position caused Baek Mugyeong’s length, still inside, to get stimulated again. Especially when Jeong Minchae shifted slightly, his inner walls tightened, and Baek Mugyeong instantly grew hard again.

He clenched his jaw. No matter how many times he climaxed inside Jeong Minchae, it wasn’t enough.

He struggled to stay rational, but it wasn’t easy.

“You bastard.”

Jeong Minchae’s tearful whisper made Baek Mugyeong take a deep breath. He might not realize it himself, but Jeong Minchae had a gift for provoking people.

That was the last clear thought he had. Seeing Jeong Minchae’s tear-stained face glaring up at him made his mind go blank.

His Alpha instincts took over again.

*

Baek Mugyeong had lived as a Beta until his mid-twenties, when the rate of manifestation among carriers was still in the single digits. He hadn’t understood why trait bearers would lose control, biting and clinging regardless of time or place. He had doubted the excuse that they were ruled by instinct.

Then he manifested as a dominant Alpha and experienced firsthand what it meant to lose control under the influence of pheromones. Having his body move against his will was horrifying. Rut was the worst of it.

He tried to suppress his pheromones with medication whenever possible. When rut came, he took pills immediately.

Fortunately, as a dominant Alpha, he wasn’t easily affected by others’ pheromones. He could ignore the seduction of Omegas or the challenges of other Alphas without difficulty. Even against dominant Omegas or dominant Alphas, he had never lost control.

There was only one exception.

Jeong Minchae.

Baek Mugyeong remembered clearly the moment Jeong Minchae had manifested as an Omega in their past life.

It had been by chance that Jeong Minchae joined him on a business trip to the US. Jeong Minchae had taken the fall for something Jeong Guhyeon had done and had to leave Korea for a while. The timing of the trip overlapped, so they ended up going together.

Jeong Minchae had been quiet the entire trip. Even after arriving in New York, he had barely left the hotel room.

His Omega manifestation happened in the middle of the night. Baek Mugyeong had gone to check on him, startled awake, and ended up being swept up in the pheromones and having sex.

At the time, he had chalked it up to bad luck and moved on. But looking back now, there were too many strange details.

Even if Omega pheromones were most unstable during manifestation, it was odd that he, a dominant Alpha, had lost control to that extent. The fact that it had happened again after regression, during their honeymoon, also stood out.

He didn’t even like sweets, but he couldn’t resist Jeong Minchae’s cotton candy scent.

“There’s no way he drugged his pheromones.”

Sitting on the couch in the corner of the hotel suite’s living room, Baek Mugyeong muttered under his breath and frowned. It was a ridiculous thought. A form of denial.

Forcing someone to react by overwhelming them with pheromones was something he despised. Jeong Minchae had said himself, why not just have sex, but that wasn’t a valid excuse.

He had done something he could never forgive himself for. A simple apology couldn’t cover it.

Baek Mugyeong gathered his thoughts as he waited for Jeong Minchae.

Before long, the door opened and Jeong Minchae appeared. His hair was still damp from the shower. He wore a shirt and trousers, no jacket or tie.

Walking barefoot across the living room, Jeong Minchae sat on the opposite couch with a sullen face. His expression tightened slightly with every movement, showing how unwell he still felt.

Baek Mugyeong had wanted to speak with him right after the sex, but Jeong Minchae insisted they wait until he had cleaned up and composed himself. So Baek Mugyeong had waited until now.

“Are you alright?”

“No.”

Jeong Minchae didn’t bother hiding his displeasure as he answered. Leaning on the armrest of the couch, he made his discomfort clear.

Baek Mugyeong felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t held back. No wonder Jeong Minchae was sore.

“I’m sorry.”

He started with an apology. He had been in the wrong.

“Well… yeah. It’s fine.”

As always, Jeong Minchae didn’t get angry. No matter how it began, he had enjoyed the sex, and that was enough for him to move on.

Baek Mugyeong wished he would get mad. Without that, he felt like a pushover.

“I’ve said it before. You’re supposed to get mad in situations like this.”

“You bastard! Do you feel good doing whatever you want? Your words and actions never match. Is sorry all you can say? …Is that better?”

Those were the tearful words Jeong Minchae had shouted earlier. Though this time it wasn’t as intense, Baek Mugyeong still felt heat rising through his body at the memory.