Chapter 101: Day One
by GideonSurprisingly, he didn’t seem shocked. He replied calmly.
“Did I mark you? Did you imprint on me?”
Jubin slowly shook his head.
“It was way before that.”
This time, his eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“…When?”
“We met up after a long time at the BAY Entertainment year-end party. I think I imprinted on you then.”
Jubin slowly began to unwrap the layers of his heart.
“That day, I smoked a pheromone cigarette for the first time. The one you bought for me.”
The emotions from that time were old, yet vivid.
“I was so confused. I was flustered by my own lust for you… and work wasn’t going well… I was just scared of everything, so I avoided you.”
That was the real reason he had cut him off six years ago.
“Because I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from falling for you.”
His hand tightened around his utensils, a flicker of anxiety crossing his face.
“Whether your feelings for me are because of the Imprinting, the pheromones, or just a fan’s crush… as long as you don’t push me away, I’ll stay by your side.”
He added with a light smile, “Tell me you love me, one more time.”
Jubin turned his head away, his face flushing crimson.
“…Next time. That’s enough for today.”
Even after his calm confession, a sliver of terror remained in Jubin’s heart—the most intense fear brought on by the Imprinting.
Still, I’ll try to keep up with his pace and slowly figure things out.
“I know now,” Zion said. “Your rejections weren’t because you didn’t love anyone. They were a plea for me to come closer, to give you the reassurance you needed because you were too scared to love.”
So he knew all along.
In moments like this, I felt how much more mature Zion was, despite being younger. I’d always prided myself on having met so many people, but looking back, I realized I’d never truly opened my heart to anyone or experienced a deep, committed relationship.
“Don’t you dare say those cruel things again,” he continued, his voice soft but firm. “Don’t tell me to find someone better or that you’re stepping aside. Can’t you see how much you’ve torn my heart apart?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I won’t say such reckless things again. Now that you’re imprinted on me, who could possibly take you away?”
There had been a time when I truly wished he would find someone better.
“I felt so inadequate compared to you. At the same time, I was terrified you’d leave me, so I tried to block out every trace of the love I felt for you, as if I could just run away from it.”
What a futile effort.
I know now how cowardly it was to use the fear of loss as an excuse to hold you back from finding someone better.
“I don’t want to lose you after finally holding on to you.”
“Just look at me, like you are now. I want to live this life as your Omega.”
Jubin awkwardly held out his pinky, as if asking for a promise.
Zion’s smile widened with satisfaction as he hooked his own finger around Jubin’s.
“I want to be your only Alpha, too. I want you to imprint on me, so just mark me like crazy right now. Maybe that’ll work.”
He began unbuttoning his shirt, exposing the nape of his neck.
“Hey, you’re enough even without Imprinting—”
Jubin glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped, his eyes widening in shock at how much time had slipped away.
“Ah, what do I do!”
He ran a hand down his face, a look of utter despair crossing his features.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Ugh, I’m screwed…”
“Just tell me what happened.”
What is it this time? Zion’s voice trembled with half-hidden dread.
“Ha… I reserved a cake, but I missed the pickup.”
Zion, who had been bracing for a catastrophe, blinked at the sudden mention of a cake. He asked, his voice filled with relief, “A cake?”
“Yeah. I ordered a brownie cake with tons of strawberries on top—the kind you love. They probably thought I was a no-show and sold it already…”
“Hah, and here I thought…”
Zion let out a long sigh of relief. Jubin, on the other hand, looked even more disappointed than Zion—clearly, he’d really wanted to give him that cake.
“Aw, man… I really wanted to get that for you…”
Hearing the dejected tone in Jubin’s voice, Zion reached out and affectionately ruffled his hair.
“I went and picked it up.”
“What…?”
Zion opened the refrigerator and revealed the cake.
“How… how did you…?”
“I kept getting calls from an unknown number, so I answered. They asked what I wanted to do with the cake. I figured since you’d ordered it, you’d want it, so I went and got it. I just didn’t realize it was for my birthday.”
He gently placed the cake on the bed and pressed a few soft kisses to Jubin’s cheek. Jubin tried to hide his awkwardness.
“…So it turned into a reverse surprise.”
“Thank you for taking care of me. I really liked the emoji stickers, too.”
“Actually, I have one more gift. I ordered a belt—nothing too expensive, just something I thought would look good on you.”
He gazed at Jubin with a sweet, tender look and asked softly, “Do you know what giving a belt as a gift means?”
Jubin nodded, lowering his head to hide his flushed face. “…Yeah, I know.”
A belt symbolized the desire to never let the other person go.
“You knew, yet you still rejected my confession?”
Jubin kept his head bowed in embarrassment.
“I bought it thinking you might not accept it,” he admitted. “But it looked so good on you that I couldn’t help myself…”
Zion cupped Jubin’s flushed cheeks and gently lifted his face. He showered him with a series of tender kisses.
“If you bought this with the intention of keeping me tied up for a lifetime, then you made the right choice.”
“You’ve already imprinted on me,” Jubin murmured. “I figured I should at least give you something like this… so you wouldn’t wander off.”
No longer just partners enjoying pleasure without responsibility, they were now true lovers, carving out a place for each other by their side.
“Thank you for making this the best birthday ever.”
It was Zion’s birthday.
And from today, we are officially a couple.
How did I end up back here again…
“I’m so glad you’re back at my place, Jubin.”
Jubin let out a strained, awkward laugh.
If you’re happy, I should be too, but… The moment he stepped through the front door, all the strength drained from his shoulders.
Here was the full story.
After he seemed to have recovered enough, the doctor had cleared him for discharge. Jubin had been thrilled, thinking he could return to his work immediately.
But then, the doctor dropped the bombshell.
“You must avoid going out until your Heat passes, immediately after discharge.”
At first, Jubin planned to lock himself in his own apartment and never leave. But the moment he stepped outside the hospital, Zion had said:
“Spend your Heat with me.”
Jubin thought it was a joke at first, but it wasn’t. Zion was more serious about Jubin’s Heat than anyone else.
“Zion, sit down.”
Jubin sat on the floor, using the living room sofa as a backrest, and patted the space in front of him.
“Why?”
Zion sat down opposite him, still clutching the delivery box.
“Have you ever gone through a rut?”
“Yes, I have.”
A rut might be a little different from a heat, Zion thought, but what matters is that I’ve experienced it.
“What was it like?”
“Ruts aren’t too bad,” Zion explained. “Your sex drive just spikes more than usual. If you have a partner, great; if not, you just deal with it. But heats… those are different, aren’t they?”
Having experienced a pseudo-heat, Zion knew they were worlds apart. He’d heard of Omegas who installed home cameras just to record what they said and did, since they often had no memory of it afterward.
“Don’t worry,” Jubin said. “I’ve prepared everything.”
“Prepared… what?”
Jubin tore open the delivery box for him to see.
The box was overflowing with condoms, lube, and adult toys I really didn’t want to see.
Wait, why is the belt I bought him for his birthday in there?
“…Zion?”
“Is this really necessary?” I asked, forcing a strained smile. He didn’t even look up, too busy checking the contents of the box.
“They say a heat can last up to two weeks,” he replied. “I figured one box wouldn’t be enough.”
The duration was the problem. I could probably manage for a day, but the longer a heat dragged on, the higher the risk. No matter how careful we were, a single slip-up could lead to pregnancy.
He set the box aside and pulled me into a reassuring embrace. “Don’t worry. I got the Alpha-exclusive contraceptive chip implanted before you were discharged from the hospital.”
What?
While Betas and Omegas couldn’t use them, Alphas could have the contraceptive chip implanted if necessary.
Since the chip’s sole purpose was contraception, it was strictly for short-term use and carried the most severe side effects of all the available options.
“Why would you go this far…!”
“It’s less harsh than the morning-after pill.”
He must have scoured the hospital records. There was no other way he would have known about the morning-after pill.
“How much do you know?”
“And how much were you planning to hide from me, sunbae?”
Even with the contraceptive chip, protection wasn’t guaranteed.
“I’ll go get the morning-after pill right now.”
Zion grabbed Jubin’s shoulders as he tried to stand, forcing him back down onto the sofa.
“I can’t let you take that harsh drug twice because of me.”
“I’m trying to increase the chances of it working. I’m the one who’s anxious here.”
Suddenly, Zion held out his wrist, as if to reassure him.
“This should be enough, right?”
The surgical site was wider than average.
No way…
“I had two more chips implanted.”
Two more? That means he has four in total? My heart plummeted in shock.
“You—!”
I finally snapped, my anger boiling over. I had never raised my voice at Zion like this before, but I was so shaken that my fingertips were trembling.
“Are you insane?”
No wonder it felt strange. The fact that I could even tolerate Zion’s pheromones after removing all the chips…
He’s bound to suffer from side effects!
“What are you going to do about the side effects?!”
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