Chapter 94: Imprinting?
by GideonA nurse approached and began a few check-ups.
“Yes, there were none,” she said, glancing at Jubin’s complexion with a suspicious look. “May I ask why you’re trying to add more?”
“I need a little more effect.”
“Please go to the blood collection room for a simple blood test before your appointment.”
Jubin went to the blood collection room and had three vials of blood drawn. Having eaten nothing for weeks, his head spun with every drop that left his body.
“You can head to the examination room now.”
“Thank you.”
As Jubin left the blood collection room, he checked the time.
CEO Moon Woo-jin should be arriving at the burger joint about now. Without a second thought, he placed an order.
“Mr. Cha Jubin, please come into the examination room.”
At the nurse’s call, he entered the room. An elderly doctor, adjusting his glasses, gestured toward the chair.
The doctor reviewed the test results, his gaze filled with a mix of confusion and concern.
“The results aren’t good.”
“How bad?”
“Your pheromone balance is completely shot. This is a classic pre-heat symptom.”
“…What?”
Jubin’s mind went blank, like a desolate, white sandy beach. The words he’d prepared vanished, leaving him speechless.
“We’ll need more tests to be sure, but… have you ever gone through a heat before?”
“No…” Jubin’s mouth hung open.
“And did you get marked after you had the chip implanted?”
Does the blood test even show marking levels? Jubin swallowed hard and confessed. “Yes. It was consensual.”
He hadn’t been forced into the marking. That was the important part. He should have drawn the line, but he couldn’t. This wasn’t Zion’s fault.
“It seems the marking triggered your heat cycle.”
The aftermath of the marking was far more severe than I’d imagined.
“The warnings after your chip addition explicitly stated that marking is dangerous,” the doctor said, glancing over my chart again. You really messed up, his expression seemed to say.
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would be this dangerous.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me. But may I ask why you’re so insistent on adding the chip?”
I’d given the nurse a vague excuse, but I couldn’t hide the truth from the doctor any longer.
“I have a colleague… and I only react to his Alpha pheromones.”
“Has it always been like this, since you first met?”
Not from the very beginning.
“I started reacting after he presented as an Alpha. We met again for the first time after that. I was fine as long as I kept my distance, but we had to work together again.”
The doctor’s expression remained grave, his gaze urging me to elaborate on my history.
“After we met again, replacing the chip did nothing at all. Adding a new one helped a little, but… due to some circumstances, I ended up staying at that Alpha’s place…”
“Ah…”
The doctor seemed to understand the full picture now. He asked one more question.
“The Alpha who marked you… is he the same person?”
He should be a detective, not a doctor.
“Is that a problem?”
“It seems you’ve been imprinted on him for some reason.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“Excuse me?”
I had expected to be unusually susceptible to Zion’s pheromones, but the thought of being imprinted on him had never even crossed my mind.
It was a complete bombshell.
“Modern medicine has no cure for imprinting.”
The realization crushed his chest: he was now irrevocably bound to Zion, yet Zion could leave him for any other Omega at any time.
He couldn’t bear the thought of breaking up now.
But he lacked the courage to even ask Zion to stay.
He was so ugly, so selfish—lying to himself, claiming he was ready to let go at a moment’s notice while secretly craving Zion with every fiber of his being.
“What about the other Alpha? Do you think they’re imprinted on each other?”
“No, it doesn’t look like the other person is imprinted.”
Jubin shook his head with a strained smile. Damn these pheromones. They were useless, absolutely useless.
How was he supposed to fight an imprint? And how was he supposed to suppress these feelings that had already gone too far?
“Given the Imprinting, adding another chip might not prolong the suppressant’s effects for very long.”
Jubin’s lips went dry from anxiety. He licked them nervously before asking cautiously, “How long will it last?”
“I don’t know. With your current levels, adding a chip would buy you two weeks at most.”
Two weeks… That should be enough for the reporters to give up and the public eye to drift away, right?
If I can just hold out for two weeks in his space, I can go back to my old life.
“That’s enough time. Could you please add the chip?”
“If you insist, I will. But is it really necessary…?”
The doctor sighed softly, his gaze questioning why Jubin would resort to a chip that couldn’t even counter the Imprinting or stop the approaching Heat Cycle, all just to buy a little more time.
“Just so you know,” the doctor said, glancing over the chart one last time before completely washing his hands of the matter, “if you don’t have this chip removed within two weeks, you’re guaranteed to go into shock.”
“I won’t be held responsible if that happens,” he added, sliding a form across the desk. “Sign this, and I’ll go ahead with the procedure.”
He’s doing it because I’m the patient, but he’s making it clear he’ll take zero responsibility for the consequences, I thought.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Don’t come to me with complaints if you ignore the risks again, like you did with the Marking.” The doctor handed me the completed paperwork. “Follow the nurse to the procedure room.”
“Thank you.”
The doctor’s expression remained utterly unimpressed. What’s there to thank me for? I’m only doing this because you’re demanding it. Just don’t try to blame me later, his face seemed to say.
As I stepped out of the office, my phone buzzed. It was CEO Moon Woo-jin.
Jubin’s heart sank. Could he have already gone there?
“Yes, Representative.”
—Ah, what a mess. There’s a huge line, so it’s going to take a while. Are you done with your appointment?
Thank god. I’ve still got some time.
“I’m still waiting.”
—I’ll get there as fast as I can. It’s too hot to wait in the parking lot, so just stay inside. I’ll call you when I arrive, and you can come out then.
“Okay. Take your time.”
Jubin hurriedly hung up, terrified the nurse would call his name.
“Patient Cha Jubin, please come into the procedure room.”
“Yes. Is it possible to do a skin graft on the procedure site? I heard it helps with faster recovery.”
“Yes, that’s possible.”
If he didn’t get a graft on the incision site like last time, Zion would notice immediately. It was an expensive choice, but he had no other option.
Just two weeks. I just need my body to hold out for that long.
The chip implantation was over in a flash.
Jubin saw two missed calls from CEO Moon Woo-jin. He scrambled to call him back as he ran toward the parking lot.
“Hey, Jubin. Where are you? Which department did you check into?”
A plausible excuse sprang to mind.
“I’m an Omega, you know. I figured the Gender Specialty Clinic would be better than a general practitioner.”
“Oh, really? Are you done with your appointment?”
“Yes. I’m heading to the parking lot now.”
Thank goodness that excuse worked.
After getting into Woo-jin’s car, Jubin took a homemade burger and chewed on it for a long time. He showered the food with praise, piling on every adjective he could think of to thank Woo-jin for driving all this way to buy it for him.
In truth, he couldn’t taste a thing.
All he could perceive were the textures: the fluffiness of the bun, the specific dampness of the patty, and the slickness of the sauce.
The side effects had clearly worsened the moment the chip was added.
“What did the doctor say?”
“Stress-induced headache.”
“And the medicine?”
“The prescription was more sleep than medicine. And eating well.” Jubin smiled, deliberately holding up his hamburger.
“Right, there’s no better tonic than eating and sleeping well. Zion’s audio recording will be a bit longer today.”
Jubin nodded, taking a bite of his hamburger without any real appetite.
The truth was, his energy had plummeted after the blood draw, and the additional chip implantation had left his mind in a fog.
He soon arrived at the parking lot of Zion’s apartment.
“Thank you so much, CEO.”
“Get some good rest at Zion’s place tonight.”
“Yes, get home safely.”
After bowing politely, Jubin watched CEO Moon Woo-jin’s car disappear from sight. If it weren’t for him today, Jubin wouldn’t have been able to get the chip implanted, let alone leave his house, and might have gone hungry.
The elevator glided to a stop, and I stepped out in front of Zion’s apartment.
I took a deep breath before punching in the passcode. If this doesn’t work, just like the chip replacement, I’m screwed.
The door clicked open as I entered the code Zion had given me.
The scent of his pheromones, once so suffocatingly thick, was now a pleasantly faint trace in the air.
…Thank god, it’s working.
Of course it is. After all the money I spent and the risks I took, I’d have cried if this hadn’t worked.
Following the hallway into the living room, I saw soft sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The art on the walls was understated, and the furniture was as neat and composed as Zion himself.
By the window sat a plush, oversized lounge chair.
He probably practices his scripts there…
I could almost see him now, dressed comfortably, completely absorbed in his lines.
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