I hadn’t meant to speak like that.

Even so, my lips moved of their own accord. All the bottled-up frustration and the sense of betrayal toward him boiled together, surging to the surface.

“...You.”

Kwon Yido’s voice stumbled out in a daze. Uncharacteristically flustered, his vacant look seemed almost frightened. His unfocused eyes wavered without aim.

“You remember...”

“Remember?”

Remember? Was that the word he chose for this moment?

“Let me ask you in return.”

So he really was hiding something. That much was immediately clear. The words he had once spoken to me weren’t drunken nonsense after all. Realizing that left me burning.

“What is it I don’t remember?”

“...”

His lips clamped shut. And once sealed, they weren’t likely to open again. A mix of dismay and fear flickered in him—two emotions that did not suit him at all. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“From the very first moment I stepped into this house, something felt wrong.”

I didn’t bother trying to restrain my emotions. It was the first true anger of my life, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ and my target was the one person in whom I had placed nearly all my affection and trust.

“Mr. Kwon.”

Just saying his name left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact that things had come to this cut painfully deep.

“How do you know me so well?”

Only now was I finally asking the question I should have asked months ago. From the start, I had sensed it—his inexplicable familiarity, the strange déjà vu, the feelings in his eyes I couldn’t interpret. I had ignored them all, and now they burst forth as a knot.

“My tastes, my appetite, my clothing sizes—even my ring size.”

“...”

“You’ve guessed my heat cycles correctly three times now. Even the ones I didn’t know myself.”

I had thought it strange, but I couldn’t confront him. I had been afraid—afraid of losing him, afraid I would never again feel this warmth. So I endured, and waited. And this was my reward? The sense of injustice was overwhelming.

“You’re not going to call all this coincidence, are you?”

If this was coincidence, then nothing in the world deserved to be called inevitability. If all of this was only in my head, then I had no explanation except madness.

“Are you just going to stay silent again?”

At my words, he bit hard into his lower lip. Again, no willingness to answer plainly.

“So you’ll decide everything without me and act in secret again?”

And what, exactly, is supposed to be for my sake? What is it that I ever asked you to do?

“How is this supposed to be my choice...?”

The weight of helplessness crashed over me. The sweet words he once whispered now felt like venom.

“If this was how it would end, you shouldn’t have made me fall for you.”

For the first time in my life, I felt love. For the first time, I expected something more from someone else. I had told myself it was forced, but with him I had thought maybe—even an imprint might be all right.

“If you weren’t going to tell me the truth, then you shouldn’t have brought me here.”

And now he tells me to leave. To abandon everything and walk out of this house. That we would not promise a future, that our relationship was meaningless and should end. To me, it sounded like nothing but a cruel dismissal.

“...You said it was time to let me go?”

“...”

“Let me go? Fuck that...”

I covered my face with both hands and sank down on the spot. My legs gave way; standing was impossible. If I slipped even a little, I felt like everything inside me would collapse in ruins.

“...Sejin.”

His voice barely reached me, calling my name. Pitifully gentle, it sparked both relief and resentment. How dare he worry for me even now, while speaking of discarding me.

“Sejin, I—”

“If it’s just an excuse, don’t say anything.”

I didn’t cry. Though I felt on the verge of breaking down, I clenched my teeth and held it in. If I cried here, I would truly be pathetic.

“If you won’t tell me everything, then don’t call me Sejin.”

Ironically, the moment I said that, he fell silent. I exhaled a ragged breath behind my hands. That silence could mean only one thing.

“So you really won’t tell me anything, will you?”

Perhaps he meant to keep it hidden forever. He might show me his feelings, but never the determination behind them. He had promised to give me everything, yet still refused to make me his.

“...Do you even love me?”

I muttered it as I scrubbed my face dry. Stumbling to my feet, I forced a crooked smile. He only watched me in silence.

“Am I someone who matters to you at all?”

“...I know you doubt me,” he whispered, voice trembling faintly. So soft I could have missed it if I hadn’t strained to listen. Yet his next words carried a quiet edge of resolve.

“But don’t doubt my feelings.”

“...”

Why not just lie? Why not say you don’t love me, tell me I’m nothing to you, and let me walk away?

“How can I not doubt you...?”

The truth was, I never once doubted that. I knew his kindness toward me wasn’t a facade. I had starved for affection all my life, and for the first time I had warmed myself at someone’s hearth.

“Have you ever been honest with me? Even once?”

It was nothing more than lashing out. A child’s tantrum for recognition, a last gasp for affection.

“You say you’ll give me everything I want, but have you ever thought about what I actually want?”

What I wanted was small, trivial stability. Instead I was buried in excess. The pleasures I gained along the way weren’t meaningless, but they never touched the root of my need.

“You tell me it’s all for me, but it’s really for you.”

“...”

“All just self-satisfaction, that’s what this is.”

That one struck him. His eyes twitched, his lips parted. What showed in him wasn’t light—something closer to self-loathing.

“...I must have felt like keeping a pet.”

What had he truly wanted from me? Did he feel content watching me sink deeper?

“You fed me, sheltered me, toyed with me. And now, when I’m no longer needed, you discard me?”

A tamed animal, once released, often cannot survive in the wild. It isn’t liberation but deprivation, not release but abandonment. He might think he had prepared everything for me, but I wasn’t ready.

“I was the fool.”

“...”

“Never realizing that this was all our relationship amounted to.”

I hadn’t thought what we’d built could crumble into something so paltry. However brief, it had felt like more than just months—it had felt like years together.

“What is it you’re so afraid of...?”

I muttered it, gasping for breath. One hand covered my eyes while the other pressed against my chest, trying to calm the chaos. My heart had been hammering too long, the excitement never leaving as I spoke.

“...You.”

Finally, Kwon Yido spoke again. In the dark, his voice carried clearly. This time, there was grievance in it.

“You say all that because you know nothing.”

Maybe it was just my impression, but he seemed shaken too. His voice was calm, yet its undertone was unlike him. No longer composed, no longer confident—what seeped through was uncharacteristically small.

“Every moment was hell for me.”

“...”

I couldn’t ask him what tormented him so. I only lowered my hand and met his eyes. His chest heaved, his face contorted at the corners.

“Every time I closed my eyes, I feared you would disappear... I never lived a single day in peace.”

“...Then you should have nothing left to fear.”

A hollow laugh escaped me. Inappropriate, but true to how I felt. Hearing him say life had been hell because he imagined me gone—it left me perversely satisfied. Petty as it was, I thought: Now you can taste it yourself.

“Because soon, I’ll be gone.”

His face hardened completely. Shock struck deeper than ever before. Looking into those despairing eyes, I spat out each word.

“And you won’t have to fear me dying in front of you either.”

I knew the words would wound, but I had nothing else left. I had no intention of dying, no intention of leaving for good. But spite drove me to mock him.

“Goodbye, Mr. Kwon.”

“...”

“Goodbye. Let’s see how well you fare.”

I turned, gripping the doorknob. I meant to walk out, fetch my suitcase, and leave. Let him see if life without me was really the hell he claimed. If that was what he truly wanted, I would grant it.

But as the door opened, it slammed shut again with a crash. Kwon Yido had struck it with his fist, his pheromones flooding sharp and heavy as his voice froze the air.

“...Goodbye?”

His rough hand clamped on my arm. He spun me around, slamming me back into the door. Pinning me by the shoulder, he seized my jaw and crushed his lips against mine.

“...Mph.”

Our teeth clicked, the kiss so desperate it hurt. His tongue invaded, forceful, crushing my chin as he poured pheromones into my breath.

The potency was dizzying, my knees trembling. His signature scent of wood wrapped around me, leaving no space to resist. It was like plunging off a cliff, the rush unending.

I didn’t push him away. I wound my arms around his neck, raised my head to swallow him, surrendered to the waves of pheromones. My brain melted in sweetness; all I could do was cling to him desperately.

Only when we were gasping did he release my mouth. Our breaths tangled, thick with heat. His hand slid from my jaw down to my nape as he whispered my name, voice ragged and spent.

“Sejin.”

I almost cried. Just that single word—it felt like he was pleading. Begging me not to leave, to stay by his side. The opposite of everything he had just told me.

“You should have left when I let you.”

It thrilled me. Finally, the words fell from his lips. His gaze, steeped in possession and obsession, was chilling and intoxicating.

“I told you it wasn’t letting go—it was abandonment.”

This time, I kissed him first. Eyes shut, tongues clashing, and he didn’t push me away. Only slid his cold hand beneath my clothes, caressing bare skin as he pressed closer.

Reason slipped away entirely. It had been fragile to begin with, and now it shattered. I didn’t even realize when he lifted me into his arms.

He carried me to the desk, swept everything off with one arm, and set me down as if I were breakable. Glass shattered on the floor, but it barely registered.

“...Ah.”

Even as he stripped my clothes in hurried motions, I hated to part from him. I whined, mouthing his lips and chin, rubbing against him. Though summer heat lingered, my exposed skin felt chilled.

“Ah...!”

Foreplay barely deserved the name; his touch was rough and insistent. He bit and sucked at my chest, then without warning pushed fingers inside me. I wasn’t wet yet, but my body prepared quickly.

“Kwon Yido... ah...”

Everything he did was raw, blatant. My head was hazy, yet each moment etched sharp into memory. The wetness gathering, the marks he left over my body, the pheromones spilling thick around us.

“Ahh...!”

When he pushed inside, the split of pain came with satisfaction. It was tight, unready, but pleasure outweighed it. To be joined with him, to belong to him—it filled me until my stomach ached with fullness.

“Hngh—ah...!”

He moved without restraint, driven purely by instinct. No time to adjust, only merciless thrusts. Normally I wouldn’t have endured it, but now I wrapped my legs around him, too consumed to stop.

“There... ahh, hnngh...”

“...Ha.”

No matter how deep he went, it wasn’t enough. I wanted him further, wanted him deeper. I rocked against him, clenching around him, and he only held me tighter, as if he would never let me go.

“Hhhn... ah...”

At some point, I realized I was crying. Tears streamed down, blurring my sight. My body raced like it was broken, yet in his arms I felt nothing but good.

“...Sejin. Jung Sejin.”

“Ahh... hhh...”

He licked away my tears, crushed me tighter. His fingers dug into my hair, anchoring me in place. His lips trailed to my neck, holding me still as I writhed.

“Ahh...!”

With a deep thrust, his cock swelled inside me, pressing against my navel from within. The strain felt like tearing, and I clawed his back as release overtook me. He spilled heat inside me, pheromones surging as he sank his teeth into my neck.

“...!”

A shudder of strange pleasure shot up my spine. Breath caught, vision darkened and flared, black and white flashing in turns.

“Ah, ahh...!”

It was like falling endlessly from a cliff. At the height of ceaseless ecstasy, time began to move again. My omega pheromones surged, tangling unknowingly with his.

Bound—that was the only word for it. Though it wasn’t a heat cycle, the scent of flowers rose as if in response.

And in that moment, when I felt connected to him—

“I am Jung Sejin.”

Images flickered like a panorama. A grand, extravagant wedding. Myself in a white suit, and Kwon Yido immaculate from head to toe. Our hands clasped as we walked the wedding road, applause erupting at its end.

“I look forward to our future together.”

He didn’t smile at me. It was I who extended my hand first, awkwardly withdrawing it when no one took it. Left alone in a desolate mansion, I watched his back disappear into the distance.

“...”

I stared wide-eyed, unable to breathe. The storm of memory crashed over me, unbearable in its intensity. Similar yet different, the same timeline but another moment. And in those memories, Kwon Yido was colder than I could have believed.

“You’d better learn your place.”

They weren’t his memories at all. They were mine—memories I had forgotten.