Chapter 29

Perhaps because he had started his day so incredibly early, the short hand of the clock was still hovering just shy of noon by the time he finally woke from his deep slumber.

Letting out a soft yawn, he stretched his limbs. Having traveled all the way down to Namhae, a faint urge to actually do something productive bloomed in his chest. Rolling lazily across the mattress, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand and dialed Manager Yoo’s number.

[Yes, Dr. So.]

Given that the call connected before the second ring even finished, the manager must have been holding his phone directly in his hand. Mildly startled by the lightning-fast response, Gi-hyeon quickly spoke.

“Manager Yoo, could I possibly borrow a car? I’d like to go for a brief drive.”

[Of course. It is entirely possible.]

Manager Yoo readily agreed. When the secretary offered to bring the keys directly to their suite, Gi-hyeon insisted on going down to get them himself, eventually compromising on having them left at the front desk. Unable to refuse the final offer, Gi-hyeon took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and headed out.

Descending to the lobby and giving his room number, Gi-hyeon felt a sudden wave of embarrassment when told the valet had already brought the car directly to the drive-in. He bowed in gratitude and stepped outside.

Finding the valet offering a bright smile while standing next to the exact same luxury sedan they had arrived in last night, Gi-hyeon bowed once more before sliding into the driver’s seat. Rather than taking off immediately, he fiddled with the navigation system, eventually setting his destination to the nearest beach.

“Oh, 1.3 kilometers…”

Seeing how close it was, he realized it must be the exact same coastline he had admired at dawn. Intending only to take a light stroll, Gi-hyeon parked the sedan near the sandy shore and rummaged through the glove compartment, hoping to find a stray pair of sunglasses.

Fortunately, a pair of classic Wayfarers tumbled out. Since Manager Yoo would never dare leave his personal belongings in Jo Yeon-oh’s private vehicle, they undoubtedly belonged to Yeon-oh. Slipping them on, Gi-hyeon was relieved to find they had no prescription. Stepping out of the car, he realized that despite the fierce sea breeze, the weather was surprisingly hot. He had assumed summer was still a long way off.

Completely ignoring the sand rapidly filling his sneakers, Gi-hyeon walked toward the water. The scent of the ocean hit him forcefully. Staring blankly at the crashing waves, he breathed in the sharp, salty brine mixed with the faint, fishy scent of the sea.

A few scattered groups were out surfing. He had always assumed the aggressive waves of the East Sea were required for the sport, but seeing how this particular coastline was narrow and geographically recessed, he realized it naturally generated waves powerful enough to ride. Fascinated, Gi-hyeon walked along the shoreline, watching them glide across the water.

“That’s a seaweed farm…”

He muttered the observation quietly to himself as a small fishing boat chugged toward the distant horizon. The joyous laughter of the surfers was fractured by the crashing waves, reaching his ears in faint, broken pieces. Looking around, he spotted a small shop renting out surfboards and wetsuits.

It had been years since he last surfed, but a sudden urge to try it again possessed him. He had absolutely nothing else to do, anyway. After a brief moment of hesitation, Gi-hyeon marched straight toward the rental shop. He had learned the basics years ago when accompanying the national swimming team to the beach, but considering how rusty he was, he opted for a beginner’s board. When the owner quoted a price for the board and wetsuit, Gi-hyeon had no idea if he was being massively ripped off or if it was the standard market rate, so he simply paid without a single word of complaint.

Zipping up the thick wetsuit, he practiced his pop-ups on the sand before braving the water. Almost immediately, the drills felt tedious. Deciding he would just swim if the surfing proved too difficult, he strapped the leash to his right ankle, grabbed his board, and waded into the ocean. Once the water level felt deep enough, he hoisted himself onto the fiberglass.

Rushing his timing while trying to read the incoming swell, he ended up swallowing a massive mouthful of seawater on his first attempt. The aggressive saltiness burned, bringing sudden tears to his eyes. Determined to succeed on the next wave, he pressed his stomach flat against the board, paddled out, and carefully analyzed the water. Spotting a fast-approaching wave, he executed a fluid pop-up.

He nailed it on his second try. A genuine, unrestrained smile broke across Gi-hyeon’s face at the thrilling rush of adrenaline. Hooked on the sensation, he continued catching waves for hours. He only realized he needed to stop when a severe hunger pang twisted his stomach. Checking his smartwatch, he was shocked to see it was already 3 PM.

Stunned that so much time had evaporated, he dragged himself out of the ocean. Driven by a desperate need for food, he tried to yank down the zipper on his back before reaching the rental shop, but the salt-encrusted neoprene refused to budge.

“Shall I pull that down for you?”

The unexpected voice startled him. Turning toward the sudden intrusion, Gi-hyeon found himself face-to-face with the exact same Alpha he had encountered during his dawn walk.

“Ah… Um, yes. Please.”

Knowing he couldn’t wriggle out of it alone, Gi-hyeon accepted the offer, allowing the man to pull the zipper down his spine. The suffocating tightness of the suit was so uncomfortable that Gi-hyeon decided to just strip the top half off entirely. As he pulled his arms free and peeled the neoprene down to his waist, he felt a burning stare locking onto him. Casually wiping the dripping seawater from his exposed torso, Gi-hyeon locked eyes with the Alpha, whose face instantly detonated into a violent crimson as he let out an awkward cough.

“Ah, please excuse me.”

Excuse what? Gi-hyeon had no idea what the man was apologizing for, but offered a vague nod anyway. Grabbing his board from where he had stabbed it into the sand, Gi-hyeon was about to head back to the rental shop when the Alpha spoke again.

“I, uh… I’m staying over there as well.”

The man suddenly pointed toward the luxury resort. Finding it incredibly tedious that the Alpha felt the need to reiterate a fact they both clearly knew from their morning encounter, Gi-hyeon simply nodded a second time.

“I see.”

Finding the entire conversation profoundly exhausting, Gi-hyeon turned to leave. In a flash, the Alpha reached out and grabbed Gi-hyeon’s bare forearm. The sensation of a wet palm clamping down on his own damp skin felt bizarrely disgusting. Gi-hyeon slowly lowered his gaze, staring pointedly at the offending hand.

“Ah, I’m so sorry. I just got anxious.”

“…”

Hastily snatching his hand back under Gi-hyeon’s icy glare, the Alpha stammered out an excuse. Completely baffled as to why this man was so desperately trying to hold his attention, Gi-hyeon merely stared in silence. Licking his lower lip—which must have been thoroughly pickled in salt water by now—the man stared back with nervous, hopeful eyes.

“Um… It looks like you’ve been entirely alone since earlier. If you’re free later, perhaps we could play a round of golf…”

“I have company. And I don’t know how to play golf.”

It wasn’t exactly that he couldn’t play; he simply had zero interest in it. As a physical therapist, he thoroughly understood the exact biomechanics and muscle groups required for a perfect swing. He knew the specific training regimens to maximize driving distance and exactly how the body functioned during the pivot, but fundamentally, Gi-hyeon found golf incredibly boring. Even when it came to ball sports, baseball and soccer were infinitely more entertaining. His only practical experience involved hitting a few balls at a screen golf simulator to study the mechanics for treating athletes.

As the Alpha anxiously tried to formulate a response to Gi-hyeon’s deadpan rejection, a voice suddenly called out from behind the man.

“Second Lieutenant…?”

“…”

Gi-hyeon’s breath completely stopped in his throat. Looking equally confused, the Alpha turned around to see who had spoken, glancing back and forth between Gi-hyeon and his approaching companion.

It was clearly the Alpha’s friend.

“…”

“You are the Second Lieutenant, aren’t you?”

Gi-hyeon didn’t answer. He simply turned and started walking mechanically toward the rental shop. In truth, he couldn’t even tell if his legs were functioning properly.

Get a grip, So Gi-hyeon, you pathetic bastard. How long ago was that, and you’re still…

No matter how viciously he cursed himself in his mind, the visceral panic couldn’t be suppressed. Walking at a frantic, almost unnatural pace, Gi-hyeon practically threw himself into the rental shop. He had absolutely no memory of how he managed to drag his damp clothes over his wet body or return the surfboard. By the time he finally managed to draw a ragged, shuddering breath, he was already locked safely inside the sedan, surrounded by the faint, lingering scent of Jo Yeon-oh’s aftershave.

“…Fuck.”

The curse slipped out unbidden. Slamming his forehead against the steering wheel, Gi-hyeon gasped for air. His ruined ankle throbbed with a phantom, agonizing ache. The man he had just locked eyes with was one of the very bastards who had engineered that excruciating pain. If Gi-hyeon’s memory served him right, the man hadn’t been the one actively beating him, but had stood beside the assailants, serving as the lookout to ensure no one interrupted the assault.

“Ugh—!”

A violent dry heave wracked his frame.

Feeling bitter stomach acid rising in his throat, Gi-hyeon forced his dizzy, spinning mind to focus and slammed the ignition button. Thankfully, the drive back to the resort was mercifully short. An aggressive, repetitive beeping echoed through the cabin, but his traumatized brain failed to process it until he was already turning into the resort’s entrance. Narrowly avoiding a collision with an exiting vehicle, he slammed on the brakes, only to be thrown violently forward against the steering wheel. Only then did he realize he hadn’t even fastened his seatbelt.

Flicking on the hazard lights to apologize to the other driver, Gi-hyeon drove the rest of the way to the drive-in like a ghost. Feeling a profound wave of gratitude when the doorman opened his door and took the keys, Gi-hyeon stumbled out of the car, his legs trembling violently. The doorman cautiously asked him a question.

“—need them, sir?”

“…Excuse me?”

With his mind shattered into fragments, he had only processed the very tail end of the sentence. Blinking heavily, he asked the doorman to repeat himself. The employee looked deeply alarmed.

“Do you require emergency suppressants, sir?”

“What the…”

It was an utterly incomprehensible question.

Suppressants?

What exactly was there to suppress?

The overwhelming flood of memories?

The agonizing trauma that had laid dormant in his mind for years, only to violently ambush him at the slightest trigger, piercing his brain and leaving him dry-heaving in a parking lot? If he wasn’t supposed to suppress this pathetic, inescapable trauma, what the hell else was there to suppress?

Brushing off the doorman’s attempt to support his weight, Gi-hyeon practically staggered toward the elevator. A cold, clammy sweat drenched his body. He felt as though his skin reeked of the ocean’s fishy brine, yet simultaneously radiated an entirely different, overwhelming scent.

…Did driving Jo Yeon-oh’s car cause his cologne to rub off on me? But out of all the Alpha-specific colognes Gi-hyeon knew Yeon-oh owned, none produced a scent like this. What was this smell? It was fiercely alien, yet profoundly familiar. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he had encountered it, but he knew with absolute certainty that he had smelled it before. Blinking through a dizzying haze, he fumbled for his keycard. His hands slipped against the plastic, burning with an unnatural heat. He was undeniably, violently ill.

With a sharp beep, the heavy wooden door finally swung open. Gi-hyeon dragged himself directly into the bathroom, barely managing to strip off his clothes before stepping under the water. If it were physically possible, he wanted to scrub his very brain clean. He felt like he was crying, but with the scalding water cascading over his face, he couldn’t find a single trace of tears.

Without even bothering to dry off, he threw on a bathrobe and stumbled into the bedroom. He wanted nothing more than to lock the door and sleep, but his body was burning with a horrific, boiling fever, rendering him completely helpless. Collapsing face-first onto the mattress, Gi-hyeon sank instantly into a deep, swamp-like slumber.

As if commanding him to forget the nightmare of his reality, the crushing wave of sleep dragged Gi-hyeon’s body further and further into the abyss. Suddenly, an intense, visceral urge to have sex consumed him. But with who? In this vast, desperately lonely universe, there was only one person capable of sparking that desire within Gi-hyeon.

Crushed beneath the suffocating weight of heat and lethargy, his body felt as though it were being pulverized. For a fleeting second, Gi-hyeon genuinely wished he would never wake up. He quickly, violently erased the thought. He had fought too hard to claw his way out of the era when suicidal depression had struck him like sudden seizures.

Yet, despair was a feral, starving dog, and it had clearly caught the scent of the melancholy bleeding from Gi-hyeon’s soul. A string of vicious curses echoed in his mind as Gi-hyeon tumbled into an impossible, hopeless dream.

***