Chapter 15: When Pheromones Are Urgent
by Gideon“How did you know?”
“Check if there are stickers on it.”
“Stickers?”
Jubin pulled the cigarette pack from his pocket. Sure enough, a few cute character stickers were stuck to it.
“You’re right…”
Jubin gently rubbed one of the stickers with his index finger before adding, “You really love stickers, don’t you?”
“They’re surprisingly easy to use to express my feelings, and they work well.”
Jubin found it endearing that Zion always kept these tiny stickers ready for others, a small but sincere gesture.
“Cute. Your heart is cute.”
A faint smile naturally spread across Jubin’s lips.
“Sunbae.”
At the low, resonant voice, Jubin looked up without a second thought.
In that instant, without warning, Zion pressed his lips against Jubin’s.
Mwah.
Once again, it was a surprise kiss that caught him completely off guard.
In that brief moment, Zion’s pheromones lingered on Jubin’s lips.
Jubin ran the tip of his tongue over his lips and issued a low warning.
“You’ve been messing around all day.”
He crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray.
“I’m just paying you back for the one you borrowed.”
Zion’s smile was brazen, as if he’d done nothing wrong.
“Who told you to pay me back? How many packs have I borrowed from you? If you’re going to settle the score, are you going to make me kiss you every time?”
“I’m fine with that.”
The answer came so effortlessly that Jubin found himself speechless. He needed to draw a line here.
“Forget it.”
Jubin swept his bangs back, quickly changing the subject. “Are you free?”
“Why? Asking me on a date?”
“Yeah. Let’s go on a date.”
Did Do Zion’s fingertips just tremble? Jubin wondered if he’d imagined it.
He remained silent, slowly licking his lips before asking in a low tone, “What do you want to do?”
“An Action Date.”
“…”
Silence fell between them. Jubin started to say something, then paused, a hint of disappointment crossing his face. “What?”
“An ‘Action Date’?”
“Yeah. We need to practice our choreography.”
“…Ah, the choreography…”
Zion let out a short breath and swept back his bangs, muttering just loud enough for Jubin to hear. “And here I thought… For a second, I actually got my hopes up.”
“What were you imagining?” Jubin asked, his tone dismissive.
Zion replied, his voice tinged with a hint of annoyance. “I’m the only one who got excited by the word ‘date,’ apparently.”
“If you’re that disappointed, you’d better focus on the choreography. If we don’t practice because of scheduling conflicts, someone’s going to get hurt on set.”
Jubin acted as if he understood Zion’s feelings all too well. Zion found his attitude irritating, yet he couldn’t deny the truth in it. He replied half-heartedly, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I hate getting injured.”
After all, frequent injuries were the main reason he’d quit swimming. It was no wonder he loathed them.
“You’re the senior when it comes to action scenes. I’m counting on you.”
“The Action School is booked for the day after tomorrow in the afternoon.”
When Jubin kept playing dumb, Joo Yeon seemed to back down calmly.
“I need to make a reservation too,” Jubin said.
“I’ll do it for you.”
Joo Yeon pulled out his phone, stepping in.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. I should be the one making our date reservation.”
So he wasn’t backing down after all? That’s just like you. Jubin let out a small sigh, finally giving in with a smile.
“Will the martial arts director be okay with that?”
“He’ll probably prefer it since he won’t have to schedule us separately. Want to meet around twelve?”
“You’re making a reservation for the reservation?”
“Two o’clock. Since we’re meeting up, let’s have lunch together.”
“Oh, should we?”
Since he was free the day after tomorrow anyway, the schedule worked out fine.
“You’ve learned swordsmanship before, right?”
The movie that had won Joo Yeon the Best Actor award at the Dunamis Awards was a crime, noir revenge genre filled with action. Since it was a film with violent action and a variety of weapons and fighting styles, Jubin naturally assumed he would know about it.
“I’ll need to learn how to use the hwando for the historical drama too.”
“Is that so? Let’s learn it together.”
“There’s a scene where I have to dive after falling off a cliff. Can you do that?”
At the word dive, Jubin’s expression visibly hardened. He was terrified of water, but he tried to play it cool.
“I can just hold my breath, can’t I?”
“Sunbae.”
Zion’s voice dropped, as if he’d expected this exact response. He took a step closer.
“The water in underwater sets is usually two to four meters deep. Even for a former competitive swimmer like me, diving is difficult. Because of the pressure.”
Jubin had assumed it would be similar to swimming, but hearing Zion speak so gravely made a sudden wave of fear wash over him.
“Swimming is all about inhaling and exhaling as you push forward. Diving is the exact opposite—you have to hold your breath and conserve oxygen steadily. They’re completely different skills.”
Jubin chewed his lower lip, absorbing the man’s words. He’d thought he could just push through the fear, hold his breath, and somehow make it work. Clearly, he had been wrong.
“The results are much better when your body is completely relaxed, your buoyancy is controlled, and your heart rate is steady. You need to be perfectly still for the shoot,” the man explained.
Jubin took a sharp breath and nodded. “You’re an expert on this ‘completely opposite’ field, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been diving whenever I’m feeling down since I quit swimming. I don’t want to swim, but I still want to be in the water.”
Maybe learning from someone so comfortable in the water—instead of just jumping in blindly—isn’t such a bad idea, Jubin thought.
“Which pool is it?”
“You want me to tell you?”
“Yeah, tell me where it is. I think I really need to make time to learn.”
Cha Jubin took the initiative and asked for his number.
“Thanks.”
“Message me when you’re ready to dive in.”
“I will, definitely.”
The alcohol had worn off, and the pheromone-infused cigarette seemed to have stabilized Jubin’s condition. It’s about time we wrapped this up, right?
“It’s getting late. Should I call you a taxi?”
“I can get one.”
He easily summoned a taxi through an app and received a notification that it would arrive in a few minutes.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
Jubin flinched slightly as he heard Yeon call his name in that low, husky tone.
“Isn’t my pheromone better than those cigarettes?”
The very nature of the question he asked was on a different level.
“If you’re only smoking those unhealthy cigarettes because of my pheromones…”
Jubin swallowed hard, listening intently as Yeon finished his sentence.
“You could just come to me whenever you need pheromones,” Zion said.
Jubin hadn’t expected Zion to bring up the pheromone issue so directly. But good, he thought. He’d wanted to know for sure whose problem it was before going to the hospital anyway.
“You got the chip implanted, right?”
The moment the words left his lips, Jubin knew how rude the question sounded.
“Is there anyone crazy enough not to get one implanted these days?”
Zion’s brow furrowed, clearly offended that Jubin would treat him like someone lacking basic common sense.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to doubt you—”
“Don’t worry. I got the most reliable ten-year model.”
Finally, Cha Jubin was certain. The problem was his.
“Ah… I see.”
“Why are you asking?”
“I think something’s wrong with my chip. I wasn’t trying to doubt you—I just wanted to make sure the problem was on my end.”
A faulty chip could be fixed. The sooner, the better. Part of him wanted to run to a doctor right this second, but…
“You know what you said about finding you whenever I’m desperate for pheromones? That wasn’t just empty talk.”
He added with a serious expression, “I’m really okay.”
I’m not… okay. That much was certain.
“Would I really seek you out, no matter how desperate I get? I’d rather just get another chip implanted.”
A person could have up to three pheromone chips implanted. Usually, an Alpha or Omega would live their entire life with just one, but some would temporarily implant a second one in case of a pheromone accident.
The problem was that the more chips you had, the worse the side effects became. It ceased to be a matter of adaptation and became a matter of luck.
“Sunbae, you’ve never experienced the side effects, have you?”
Jubin had never undergone an additional chip implant.
“I haven’t,” he admitted.
“It’s a backlash.”
The other man winced, as if the mere thought of the side effects was too much to bear.
“…A backlash?”
“I once encountered a pheromone I missed so desperately it felt like it would be etched into my mind forever. Like I’d been imprinted on.”
He took a half-step closer, lowering his voice as he shared his story.
“So I got another chip implanted. I figured since the pheromones were wreaking havoc in my brain, blocking them out would help.”
I was curious about the outcome. I knew it would be a failure story, but I wanted to know the extent of it.
“…So, what happened?”
“I nearly died.”
The side effects of additional chip implants varied from person to person. When humans tried to artificially block and disrupt the laws of nature, the body was bound to break.
Still, if you’re lucky, you can live a life almost identical to a Beta’s. They say you’ll never have to react chemically to a specific person for the rest of your life.
“Don’t just go adding chips recklessly. It’s truly a foolish thing to do.”
After his first manifestation as an Omega, Jubin underwent all the state-recommended tests before his chip implantation.
The results showed that Jubin was susceptible to the scent of sweet osmanthus, a flower in the olive family.
Hidden among glossy green leaves, the blossoms were barely visible, but their fragrance was so distinct that it was impossible to ignore.
The flower’s meanings were beautiful, too.
Capturing your heart, first love, a noble person—all of them brought Do Zion to mind.
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