Chapter 60

He really couldn’t help acting like this, could he? Clicking his tongue internally, Gyeol gave him a polite nod.

“Woo Seok.”

“Fancy running into you here. You hardly ever come this way.”

There was an odd implication in his tone, like he already knew this was a path neither the cast nor the staff used very often.

Pheromone Island was technically deserted, but it was still fairly large. Which meant there were stretches without cameras installed. Like the trail where Yo Han always waited for him. Or this place.

Gyeol had come this way because he knew that too, but maybe because he had just run into Jaekyung, Woo Seok’s comment left him feeling vaguely uneasy.

“Yeah. I wanted some quiet time to walk by myself.”

“A walk. Nice. I was out walking too.”

For some reason, Woo Seok was grinning from ear to ear as he walked up beside him and matched his pace. Conscious of the camera behind them, Gyeol kept a smile on his face as he spoke.

“Weren’t you heading down?”

“I was, but then I saw you coming up. Couldn’t pass up a chance like this.”

Had he even listened to what Gyeol said? He had flat-out ignored the part about wanting time alone and casually fell into step beside him anyway.

“That’s okay, right?”

The angle of his tilted head looked exactly like the famous “boyfriend-material” photos that made him popular online. He clearly knew exactly how to show off his face to its best advantage.

What is this guy doing? He was just off somewhere with Jaekyung.

“Yes, of course.”

There wasn’t really a way to refuse, so Gyeol pretended to accept it gladly.

“How was the Time Booth? You went with Sun Choi, right?”

“Yeah. Sun was really considerate, so I was comfortable the whole time.”

“Wasn’t your category Pheromone Time? Releasing pheromones and all that? An athlete like him can actually handle that? Damn, he’s impressive.”

There was something sharp hidden under Woo Seok’s words.

Gyeol neither agreed nor denied it. He simply smiled the comment away. He had no interest in gossiping behind someone’s back.

“As you know, Jaekyung and I got Skinship Time.”

Did Woo Seok always speak casually to Jaekyung like that?

Then suddenly, Gyeol realized something else.

He couldn’t smell Jaekyung’s Omega pheromones on Woo Seok at all.

“Jaekyung acts all sharp and strong, but he’s actually softer than you’d think underneath. Ha ha.”

So he let Jaekyung walk around drenched in Alpha pheromones... but made sure to scrub every trace of Omega pheromones off himself?

“Go Gyeol?”

“Ah—yeah.”

Woo Seok’s voice snapped him back to reality. Woo Seok frowned in annoyance before speaking with a mocking grin.

“That’s harsh. I’m talking to you and you’re off in your own world.”

“Ah, sorry. I’m just a little tired right now...”

“It’s okay. A generous guy like me can let it slide.”

As if he were granting some grand mercy, Woo Seok sidled closer and casually slung an arm around Gyeol’s shoulders.

The sudden contact made Gyeol twist away instinctively, but Woo Seok only laughed mischievously and grabbed his shoulder tighter, pulling him back in.

“Come on, it’s just an arm around the shoulders. Let’s get closer. We can do the whole older-brother, younger-brother thing. Yeah?”

What the hell is this guy saying right now? I know exactly what you were just doing with Jaekyung Park.

Even setting that aside, every tiny action on a dating show got dragged before the court of public opinion. Physical contact between an Alpha and Omega was especially sensitive unless the system itself created the situation, like during the Time Booth. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

And now the two of them were acting like this immediately after coming out of separate Time Booth dates?

That was practically begging the audience to tear them apart.

It would drag both Jaekyung and Gyeol into controversy.

A wave of fury surged up inside him, but Gyeol kept his poker face intact. Instead, he smiled sweetly, gently took hold of Woo Seok’s wrist, removed the arm from his shoulders, and stepped back.

“Sorry. I’m not used to physical affection. I don’t really do it even with close friends. But I’m okay with the older-younger-brother thing.”

“Ahh. Honestly, that does suit you better.”

Woo Seok narrowed his eyes at him with a loaded look before immediately grinning again and dropping into casual speech toward him.

From then on, Woo Seok stuck to Gyeol like a trailing piece of goldfish shit.

Up the hill, across the flat path while stretching, down the slope again—he followed him nonstop, talking the entire time.

Several times, Gyeol tactfully hinted that he could head back first, but Woo Seok seemed to have sold off every ounce of social awareness he possessed and failed to notice at all.

“You really care about me, huh, Gyeol? It’s okay. I wanted to spend time with you anyway.”

No, I genuinely want you to leave.

At this rate, he should have just stayed in the lodging. He had come out to clear his head and instead got trapped with a complete lunatic.

The entire situation was unbearably uncomfortable.

Woo Seok’s mood swings were too extreme. Combined with what happened with Jaekyung, his earlier bizarre behavior, and all his reckless comments, every single sign about him felt dangerously unstable.

“You know I picked you for first impressions, right?”

“Ah, yeah. ...I appreciated it.”

“Well, obviously. A beauty naturally earns a handsome man’s vote.”

Even the topics Woo Seok brought up were all like this.

“But why have you never voted for me in favorability?”

Gyeol felt like he was going insane.

“Whoa, your eyes got huge. I’m kidding, kidding. You look cute when your eyes widen like that.”

“You’re really teasing me...”

Being forced to absorb one-sided stress like this made him feel cheated somehow.

Gyeol resolved that for the sake of his future, he needed to draw a proper line with Woo Seok soon.

But if I handle it too hastily, it could look like I’m overreacting. I need to organize my thoughts carefully and wait for the right moment...

Then, in the distance, he spotted the brightly lit lounge.

He had never been so happy to see the lounge in his life.

Without realizing it, his pace quickened.

“What’s this? Why are you rushing?”

“I’m hungry. Let’s hurry.”

The lounge was less than a hundred meters away now. He could already hear the faint lively noise of the other cast members talking.

90 meters.

60 meters.

40—

Thunk.

His wrist was seized.

“......!”

“You can’t hear me?”

Gyeol nearly felt his heart leap out of his throat.

Woo Seok’s face had twisted viciously as he yanked hard on the wrist he’d grabbed.

Gyeol must have instinctively braced himself, digging in his hands and feet to resist being pulled. But there was no way for an Omega to overpower an Alpha physically.

“I said I had something to tell you.”

“...Sorry. I think the sound of the ocean wind drowned it out. What did you say?”

“......”

A short silence passed.

Behind them, not far away, the other contestants’ laughter broke through the night air.

“Tonight, vote for me in the favorability vote.”

The suddenness of it left Gyeol stunned.

“What?”

“I’ve been telling you this whole time. I want to go on a proper date with you.”

Gyeol’s answer was already decided.

Obviously, he would refuse.

He just hadn’t expected this moment to come so quickly.

When drawing a line, you needed a reasonable explanation the other person could accept. In an ordinary relationship, he could bluntly say, I’m not interested in you, or I know what happened between you and Jaekyung Park.

But this wasn’t an ordinary relationship.

This was a dating show.

And both of them were celebrities working in the same industry.

No matter how reckless Woo Seok behaved, Gyeol couldn’t afford to respond the same way. For the sake of his future, he had to appear respectful and considerate no matter what.

Which made Woo Seok’s aggressive approach far too fast.

Gyeol genuinely didn’t know what to say.

What kind of answer could avoid disrupting filming?

How could he safely distance himself from this person?

His thoughts raced frantically for an instant, but the shock left his mind sluggish and tangled.

When Gyeol hesitated, lips parting uselessly without an answer, Woo Seok impatiently pressed him again.

“The Ivory Mansion date, the Pheromone Booth... we could get to know each other better. I really want to date you.”

The grip around his wrist tightened.

It probably wasn’t even conscious on Woo Seok’s part, but for some reason, the sight of him swallowing hard suddenly looked grotesquely greedy to Gyeol.

The thick Alpha throat bobbing heavily.

The familiar revulsion rose again and again inside him.

His brother’s lovers.

The Alpha pheromones that used to saturate the house.

The marks they left on his brother’s body.

Moans.

Jaekyung’s flustered face.

The hickey on his neck.

Everything overlapped chaotically, shaking Gyeol apart.

His head spun.

His stomach churned.

He wanted Woo Seok to let him go.

This couldn’t continue.

To hell with the aftermath. To hell with the cameras.

Right now, surviving mattered more.

Gyeol squeezed his eyes shut and tried to speak.

“What are you doing?”

But the voice of another man—and the touch of his hand—reached him before the words could leave his mouth.

Thick fingers slid firmly between Gyeol’s wrist and the hand gripping it.

There was unmistakable strength in the motion.

As though prying him loose, the man peeled Woo Seok’s hand away before gently wrapping his own around Gyeol’s wrist and lowering it.

A thumb brushed soothingly over the skin there before returning his hand naturally to his side.

When Gyeol finally opened his eyes, all he could see was the man’s broad back.

The wind blew, making the loose hem of his wide shirt flutter toward Gyeol.

At moments like this, Gyeol always knew exactly who appeared.

“I wondered why neither of you were coming back, so I came looking...”

Again and again, whether he wanted it or not, you appeared in moments of crisis.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

As if your existence itself was something inevitable.