"It's not about taking sides. If something like that happened, you should have told me."

"Then you'd have hated it...."

He murmured in a small, deflated voice.

"What?"

"You hate it when I do that kind of thing. If you’d known, you would’ve tried to leave again."

"......."

"I didn’t want to do something you’d hate. But everything I want to do is something you hate...."

"What is it that I hate?"

"Being rude, doing bad things... and you hate being tied down. I want you to tell me everything, but you hate that too."

I thought he only ever charged ahead recklessly, but he remembered every single thing I’d said to him....

"Seunghyuk, if you know, then don’t do it."

Then why remember it if you’re not going to act on it?

"...I wanted to give you trust. I wanted to show you that I trust you."

Ju Seunghyuk held my hand tightly. His voice was calm, but it carried sincerity.

"So I decided to get rid of every guy who bothered you, to clean things up so you could go to school in peace...."

This lunatic!

"...Don’t tell me you did that to people other than Kim Jun, too?"

He glanced at me, then slowly closed his mouth. The fact that he couldn’t answer made it even more suspicious.

"Why can’t you answer?"

"...Hyung, I really want you to acknowledge me. I want you to not be afraid of me, to trust me. I thought a lot about how to make that happen. So I decided I should give you freedom."

Since the semester began, Ju Seunghyuk had changed a lot. Even after seeing me with Kim Jun at the club meeting, he’d let it go without a word. He’d cut down on using harsh language. He didn’t demand constant reports about my every move.

All of that had been the result of his own deliberation. He was afraid that if I got scared of him again, I might try to leave—so instead, he tried to give me freedom.

For someone whose obsession could rival anyone in the world to make that kind of decision... it must have been unimaginably difficult. My chest suddenly tightened with a bittersweet ache.

"Seunghyuk..."

"To give you freedom, it’s only natural to remove the dangers. I can relax only if you’re safe. That’s why I did it...."

And there went that tenderness in an instant.

Still, I couldn’t pull my hand away. The desperate look in his eyes as he held my hand so tightly made it impossible.

"And besides, you can only receive the ring if you trust me completely."

"You wanted the ring?"

"Yes. I want it."

His eyes shone like a child’s. Seeing that gentle look, as if he were speaking about the most precious gift in the world, made something in my chest stir strangely.

It’s just a ring. Sure, to most people it’s an impossibly rare treasure you could never get even with a lifetime of effort, but Ju Seunghyuk is different. He can get anything he wants.

Besides, this ring was a treasure he had won himself by defeating a boss. I might have it now, but if he asked for it, I could return it right away.

But clearly, what he meant now had nothing to do with material value.

"...Seunghyuk, you like a bigger build, don’t you?"

"No."

"Really? You can be honest."

"Honestly, during the rut, I was scared. Even while my reason was gone and instinct was raging, I kept thinking you were too fragile—like if I lost control, I’d break you. Even after the rut was over, I was too scared to touch you."

So that was why we hadn’t been together all this time. It wasn’t disappointment or a change of heart.

"So I thought, once you recovered, I should make you train a bit harder. I know you hate moving, but I figured you should try."

"......."

"But that’s all. Your build doesn’t matter. My ideal type is just Lee Yeonsu as you are."

He wants me. But even knowing that, I still feel uneasy—probably because I love him.

Because I love him, I worry. I’m afraid our feelings might not be the same.

"Seunghyuk, I’m a Beta."

I confessed the root of my worry.

"I know."

"I can’t sense your pheromones. Even if you send me a signal with them, I won’t notice."

Once I opened the floodgates, I couldn’t stop. I poured out everything I’d been holding back.

"I don’t care. You don’t have to notice. I’ll notice yours."

"Don’t you want kids?"

"I’ve never even thought about having kids. I don’t think I’d be a good parent."

"But you talked about kids before."

"I just thought it’d be cute if there were a child who looked like you. That’s all it meant. I only want Lee Yeonsu, and nothing else matters."

And just like that, Ju Seunghyuk took away my worries and fears. Talking to him made the problems I’d agonized over alone seem like nothing at all.

"Are you really okay with a Beta?"

I asked again. It was the kind of repeated question that could annoy someone, but Seunghyuk’s face showed no irritation. Instead, he smiled as if to reassure me, looking straight into my eyes.

"Traits don’t matter. Whether you’re Beta, Omega, or Alpha doesn’t matter at all. I never cared from the start. It’s not about a beautiful face or body, either. I only want the person who is Lee Yeonsu."

"......."

"I will never be the one to let go of your hand first. So trust me."

"......."

"Why do you look like you’re about to cry again?"

Was I crying? I shook my head to deny it, but tears slipped down anyway. I hurriedly wiped them with my hand and looked at him.

"Seunghyuk, did you get your pheromones on me today too?"

"Yeah. I do every day. Why? You didn’t like it?"

I shook my head.

I don’t dislike it. I couldn’t. It just made me sad.

"Seunghyuk, I want to smell your pheromones. I’m curious about them."

It’s not just the pheromones. I want to know everything about Ju Seunghyuk.

"Why? Why are you curious about my pheromones?"

"Because..."

There was so much I wanted to tell him.

How much I loved him. That I’m not afraid of him anymore and won’t try to run, so he can believe in me.

That he doesn’t need to worry about me anymore, that he should hold me as much as he wants, that I want him too.

I wanted to pour out every bit of my heart into his eyes.

"Because I—"

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

Just as I was about to confess everything to Ju Seunghyuk, a loud sound erupted from my phone in my pocket.

I checked it. On the screen, a red letter S was flashing. It was an emergency alert signal from the Center to registered ability users, and it was the highest level—an S-Class Alert.

An S-Class Alert is triggered for S-Class Gate occurrences, imminent Gate Break crises, or massive national disasters.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

Not only my phone, but Seunghyuk’s too, began blaring the same alarm.

"It’s S-Class."

He replied indifferently. He’d received the same alert as me.

And outside the door, the same piercing alarm blared. The sound came closer, and then someone knocked.

"Yeonsu."

It was Park Geonwoo’s voice. I was about to open the door, but Seunghyuk stepped in front of me.

"I’ll get it."

"Okay."

He strode over and grabbed the doorknob. The moment the door opened, the alarm blared from outside.

It was coming from Park Geonwoo’s phone. Just like us, he had received the S-Class Alert.

"Hey, Yeonsu."

Geonwoo greeted me awkwardly. It had been a while since I’d seen him—since the start of the semester. He looked a little worn out.

Was it because he’d lost weight, or because I now knew he had kept the truth about the Horaitron Gate hidden? The upright impression I’d had of him before felt different now.

"Hello."

"So you were here. I heard the sound and thought maybe... and Seunghyuk’s here too."

He addressed Seunghyuk belatedly. But Seunghyuk didn’t answer, just stared coldly at him.

Geonwoo looked away from him and back at me.

"It’s an emergency. Let’s go to the Center."

The alert showed the level and the location. It meant that all ability users who received it were to gather there. And the location was the Korea Central Ability User Control Center.

"Yeah. We should."

This was a national emergency. As much as I had things I wanted to say to Seunghyuk, they’d have to wait.

I looked at him. He looked back at me and squeezed my hand tightly, as if to say he would never let go.

***

We took the Ability User Academy bus to the Center.

Given it was an emergency, I thought all the higher-level ability users in the city would be deployed. But the only ones on the bus were the driver, me, Seunghyuk, and Geonwoo.

Was the alert only sent to S-Class ability users? What on earth was going on?

Normally, the alert includes a brief explanation and location, but this time, the reason was missing.

If it were an S-Class Gate or an imminent Gate Break, there’d be no reason to hide it. It had never been hidden before.

That meant something had happened—something like a large-scale accident or terror incident—that couldn’t easily be disclosed to the public.

I held Seunghyuk’s hand.

If it was serious and secret enough to warrant an S-Class Alert, Seunghyuk would have to step in. And I was afraid he might get hurt.

He stroked my head, letting me lean on his shoulder.

"It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about."

His gentle voice brushed my ear, and the anxiety that had been trembling inside me eased a little.