Chapter 74: CPR Pheromones
by GideonZion tilted his head slightly, as if to say permission wasn’t needed. His gaze, so tender it seemed to cherish even Jubin’s hesitation, made Jubin’s heart race uncontrollably.
The consequences of what they were about to do were already an afterthought.
Right now, the impulse to act was all that mattered.
Zion’s hand naturally cradled the back of Jubin’s head.
Just as their lips were about to touch, the silence outside was shattered.
“Yeon!”
CEO Moon Woo-jin’s voice startled Jubin, who gasped and jerked his upper body back.
“Hah…”
Unlike Jubin, who was still shaken, a sigh of disappointment escaped Zion’s lips.
Embarrassed by how deeply he’d been immersed in the moment, intoxicated by the pheromones, Jubin quickly averted his gaze from Zion and stammered an apology.
“S-sorry. It was the pheromones…”
I wasn’t trying to blame him… A pang of guilt shot through Jubin’s chest.
“It’s okay. I think I got caught up in them too.”
Zion smiled, his tone suggesting he wasn’t even slightly bothered.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t hide them again,” he added.
His casual apology, though light, still tugged at Jubin’s heart. The sound of CEO Moon Woo-jin’s distinct, hurried footsteps grew louder.
“Jubin!”
The door burst open, and a frantic CEO Moon Woo-jin shrieked as he rushed to check on Jubin.
“Are you okay?!”
Though not as pale as Zion, Moon Woo-jin’s face was still stark white. He seemed even more shaken than Zion, likely because he knew about Jubin’s aquaphobia.
I guess I gave everyone a heart attack today…
“I’m fine, CEO.”
“You—what the hell were you thinking?! You’re terrified of water! How could you sign up for lessons without telling me?!”
He must have thought Jubin had secretly enrolled out of a sense of sacrifice for the project, but Jubin wasn’t that kind of person.
“…Did you not see the approval request I sent?”
“Approval…?”
I know he’s been busy lately, but not knowing about this is a bit much.
“I handed you the paperwork myself, and you even gave me the corporate card. You even cheered me on, telling me to do a good job.”
“…I did all that?”
He let out an awkward laugh, then immediately turned serious.
“Still! You should have at least given me a heads-up that you were going today!”
Would anything have changed if I’d told him I was coming? Jubin wondered, glancing at Zion. Probably not.
The intense, hungry gaze that had been devouring him just moments ago was gone.
“Zion, thank God you were here,” CEO Moon Woo-jin said, patting Zion’s shoulder in relief. “The center director showed me the CCTV footage… Ugh, seriously. If it weren’t for you, Jubin would have been a goner.”
Moon Woo-jin shuddered as he recounted the incident.
“…Let’s switch centers,” Zion said decisively. “There’s one specifically for beginners. I think that would be better.”
CEO Moon Woo-jin immediately agreed.
“Right, right. You know these facilities better than we do, so we’re counting on you.”
“But I’m the one who recommended this place in the first place…”
He let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his bangs in a sharp, irritated gesture. It was clear he still blamed himself for Jubin’s injury.
“Jubin, let’s go to a different hospital before their hours are up.”
Since Jubin had a new chip implanted, he couldn’t go to a regular hospital—he needed a specialized clinic for his sub-gender. Besides, an emergency visit would mean endless questions, invasive tests, and a lot more scrutiny now that he had two chips.
The thought alone made his skin crawl.
“I’m really fine. It’s not like I drank a ton of water or anything. Seriously, I don’t need to go.”
Jubin’s words came out in a jumble, his thoughts too scattered to form a coherent sentence. He waved both hands in a frantic gesture of refusal. More than anything, he dreaded the idea of being the one making a scene by insisting on a trip to the hospital.
“You still have to go,” Zion added, his voice laced with concern. “You passed out, Jubin.”
“Just in case, please go,” Zion urged.
“Fine,” Jubin sighed, finally relenting. “I’ll go, if only to stop you all from worrying.”
He muttered, But I’m really fine, though no one paid him any mind. He reluctantly pushed himself to his feet.
“CEO Moon, please take care of him,” Zion said, bowing deeply. The gesture was heavy with desperation, as if he were entrusting Jubin to the CEO’s care because he couldn’t do it himself.
“You’ll be late for your schedule, Zion. Hurry up and get going. CEO Park is furious because he can’t get a hold of you.”
Jubin watched Zion with a worried gaze. What if I’m the reason his schedule gets messed up? An apology hovered on the tip of his tongue.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be at the set in no time.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I’m worried, so make sure to call me when you’re done.”
Zion smiled as if to reassure him.
“Promise?”
Zion was fishing for a definite answer.
The sensation of his tongue licking Jubin’s skin still lingered vividly on his fingertips.
“I guess I got drunk too.”
It wasn’t Zion who had been intoxicated by the pheromones—it was Jubin himself. Zion had likely just gone along with the mood, unable to reject Jubin’s lowered guard, trying to ease the awkwardness.
“Yeah, I’ll call you.”
Jubin practically fled the scene. He knew this wasn’t something he could decide on his own.
Is it because I’m an Omega, drawn to his pheromones… or is it because it’s you, Do Zion?
My heart felt so full of this affection that it threatened to overflow—a feeling so intense it was almost terrifying.
Despite CEO Moon Woo-jin’s insistence on going to a specialized clinic for Omegas, Jubin stubbornly refused, insisting on a nearby general internal medicine clinic instead.
Going to a specialized clinic with CEO Moon Woo-jin would mean undergoing a series of tests. He would have to explain everything—the chip implantation, the marking—in excruciating detail.
This was a deeply personal matter. He wasn’t ready for anyone to know about the marking yet.
Unable to break Jubin’s resolve, CEO Moon Woo-jin stepped on the gas, speeding toward the nearest clinic, terrified that Jubin might change his mind about seeing a doctor at all.
“The results are fine. Your temperature is normal, and there are no signs of head trauma or lung damage. Whoever it was, they must have performed emergency first aid exceptionally well.”
As they left the examination room, CEO Moon Woo-jin poked Jubin in the ribs.
“I saw the CCTV footage. Do Zion’s reaction time was incredible. After a few rounds of CPR, you coughed up the water and came back to life.”
At the mention of CPR, Jubin’s intuition struck.
So that’s why I felt like my entire body was saturated with his pheromones.
It must have been because Zion, panicked and desperate, had flooded Jubin’s system with unrefined pheromones during the resuscitation.
His pheromones dominated my body like a marking… Could they have overridden the chip’s effects?
Wait… am I going into heat?
Now that his body was recovering, a new worry crept in.
“Don’t you need to eat?”
“No, I’m fine. For now…” Jubin replied casually to CEO Moon Woo-jin’s question.
“Should I buy you some porridge?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just order something.”
CEO Moon Woo-jin took the hint, thoughtfully considering Zion’s condition and his obvious desire to rest. He pulled the car over briefly near the officetel.
“Thank you for today. I know you must have been busy, but you still took the time to come.”
“What does work matter when I get a call saying you almost died? Of course I had to come.”
Jubin tilted his head, curious. “Did you get the call from the center?”
“Who else? Do Zion, of course.”
CEO Moon Woo-jin took a deep breath before sharing something unexpected. “I’ve never heard Do Zion raise his voice like that before. He was trying so hard to stay calm, but his voice was shaking like crazy.”
Hearing that, I immediately remembered Zion’s face when I’d finally come to my senses.
He hadn’t shed a single tear, but his eyes had been filled with a despair so profound it felt as if he’d lost the entire world—only to be replaced by a glimmer of hope.
“…He must have been terrified because of me.”
“I think he needs to take you to the hospital right now,” CEO Moon Woo-jin explained. “But he said he couldn’t drive himself, so he asked me to come instead.”
Why? Why did he have to do that? There must have been other ways. I couldn’t understand his reasoning.
“He could have called an ambulance.”
CEO Moon Woo-jin seemed to have the same thought and chuckled softly.
“Exactly. I said the same thing. I told him an ambulance would be way faster than me driving all the way there. And you know what he said?”
Jubin shook his head, clueless.
“He was so shaken up, he said he couldn’t trust anyone but me right now.”
He must be terrified of making another choice, thinking his own decision was what caused this whole mess.
“I… I thought I was going to die.”
“…I’m sorry. I should have seen you sooner.”
“I’m the one who brought you here. I recommended that instructor, too.”
CEO Moon Woo-jin must have been the only person he felt he could trust.
“He’s not the kind of person to make a mistake like that.”
I knew he was in a state of panic, but I had no idea he was this broken.
And yet, I tried to satisfy my own desires while he was like that, even if I blamed it on the pheromones…
What kind of “perfect senior” am I? I’m the absolute worst.
“You haven’t forgotten our appointment tomorrow, right?”
The self-loathing was so intense that CEO Moon Woo-jin’s words barely registered.
Should I apologize first? What if he hates me for bringing up the past?
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