TATMFL - 52

It was a long while before Ra-on’s tightly shut eyelids finally opened, and her clenched lips parted.

Her tear-filled eyes, now brimming with anger, glared at him as she pushed away Do-kyung’s hand, which still gripped her chin.

“…You can say whatever filthy things you want about me, do whatever you want. I don’t care.”

Do-kyung’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Ra-on clenched her teeth once, then released them, muttering bitterly with biting sarcasm.

“Just don’t touch Hye-sung.”

“What?”

“You should focus on using your so-called amazing abilities to protect him. Stop dragging his name into every disadvantageous situation like you always do.”

There’s such a thing as being too despicable.

The moment Ra-on muttered this under her breath, Do-kyung burst out laughing. “Haha.” His Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably as he chuckled.

“Hah.”

Do-kyung spat out a curse under his breath.

“Such love that can’t exist without tears. How touching, really.”

His large hand pulled Ra-on’s shoulder closer, bringing their faces dangerously close. Their pupils clashed at close range, his gleaming with predatory intensity.

“Alright.”

In an instant, he pushed her down onto the bed and loomed over her, his lips curling into a cold smile.

Wrapping her spread legs around his waist, Do-kyung pulled her hips toward him. Beneath his muscular chest, the rigid evidence of his arousal pressed firmly against her lower abdomen, asserting its presence.

It had never truly subsided. In a room filled with her scent, holding her soft body—how could he remain unaffected?

Even after injecting himself with specially formulated suppressants for alphas, the lingering heat of rut refused to fade. Pressing his solid frame against her delicate form, he spoke.

“I’ll keep my mouth shut and protect Jihyung, and you obediently spread your legs whenever I need you.”

“…”

Her face flushed red with humiliation under the hot breath cascading from above, her teeth grinding together tightly. Despite this, her defiant gaze, already brimming with angry tears, remained fixed on him.

No more words were exchanged.

Do-kyung’s jaw tightened as his trembling fingers brushed away the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. Meanwhile, Ra-on struggled to steady her ragged breathing, hidden within the shadows that enveloped her.

Their standoff continued for what felt like an eternity, charged with palpable tension. The fiery heat that had consumed them moments ago seemed to dissipate into the pitch-black darkness, leaving only a chilling aura surrounding the two.

It was Do-kyung who broke the deadlock first. After glancing at Ra-on’s face and then at her white-knuckled grip on the rumpled blanket, he wore an indescribable expression before pulling away.

As the oppressive darkness lifted and the stifling heat finally receded, Ra-on took a deep, shuddering breath.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, his face was unnervingly blank, devoid of emotion.

For some reason, it struck her that his expression looked wounded. Just as this thought crossed her mind, Do-kyung averted his gaze and stood up.

His taut buttocks caught her eye, prompting her to quickly look away—it was a reflexive movement. Unlike Ra-on, who had hastily thrown on clothes, Do-kyung remained completely naked.

While Do-kyung began dressing, one garment at a time, Ra-on slowly rose to her feet.

Leaning against the headboard of the bed, she stared intently at her interlaced fingers, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

By the time he had fully dressed, even donning his coat, Do-kyung poured himself a glass of water from a cup she didn’t remember seeing and picked something up.

The rustling sound drew her attention despite her efforts to avoid it. In his hand was an empty medication packet. As he placed it down, he gestured toward the desk.

On the desk lay several packets identical to the one he’d just set down. Two of them were already torn open, their contents gone—one he had taken earlier, and the other…

Ra-on stared blankly at the empty packet when Do-kyung spoke.

“Make sure you take these.”

“…”

“This is a pheromone suppressant. You already took one last night, so take another one soon if you don’t want to manifest as an omega.”

Ra-on’s brow furrowed at his curt, unhelpful explanation. Ignoring her reaction, he added,

“And this is birth control.”

Clicking his tongue, Do-kyung rubbed his forehead awkwardly.

“It’s unlikely for betas, but better safe than sorry.”

After a brief pause, he continued,

“I… knotted with you last night.”

Knotted? Ra-on tilted her head slightly, puzzled by the unfamiliar term. It took her a moment to process it.

It was no wonder she couldn’t recall immediately. She had barely paid attention during those mandatory sex education sessions, where the concept of knotting was glossed over briefly. Besides, it wasn’t relevant to betas anyway.

The only thing she remembered about knotting was this:

An act through which an alpha has a 99% chance of impregnating an omega.

“Hah.”

Ra-on stared at Do-kyung, utterly incredulous.

She hadn’t heard of that probability applying to betas, but apparently, he had prepared the medication just in case.

“Not satisfied with rut alone, you went ahead and knotted too.”

It seemed he had done exactly as he pleased, taking advantage of the fact that she wasn’t an omega and that her body was bound to him by contract.

With an air of resignation, as if she were too exhausted to even be angry anymore, Ra-on said flatly,

“Should I thank you for bringing the medication?”

She turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.

“Leave.”

“…”

“The sex quota for this week is covered by what we did yesterday. Do you have anything else to say?”

Her dry tone prompted Do-kyung to run a hand through his hair, letting out a weak, bitter laugh.

What could he possibly say? He had lashed out at her simply because she mentioned Jihyung’s name, when he should’ve been apologizing and explaining himself. Any words he offered now would lack sincerity.

Perhaps it was the lingering effects of rut, but his usually unshakable composure had grown alarmingly thin. He couldn’t remember ever being this emotional.

‘No.’

Do-kyung quickly corrected himself.

Thinking back, this was always how it was with Ra-on.

Irrational and impulsive. From the very beginning, he had pursued her recklessly, even at great personal cost. Why?

Taking a deep breath, Do-kyung gazed at Ra-on. She refused to meet his eyes, staring instead at the door as if she couldn’t bear to look at him.

No matter how much he regretted it now, the damage was done. What was spilled could not be unspilled.

Realizing there was nothing more he could do, Do-kyung sneered. Taking a step toward the door, he paused with his hand on the handle and reminded her once more.

“Take the medication. Make sure you do.”

Light flooded into the room as he opened the door. But it was fleeting. With a soft click, the door closed, plunging the room back into darkness.

And in that darkness, Ra-on bit down hard on her lip. A single tear slipped unnoticed from her bloodshot eyes, strained from holding back.

“…Ah.”

A faint groan escaped through her tightly clenched lips as she curled her body into a ball, burying her face between her knees.

Her entire body throbbed as though she’d been beaten. Normally, after spending a night with Do-kyung, she’d feel sore all over, but today the dull ache in her pelvis and groin was particularly intense.

All because her non-omega body had endured an alpha’s rut.

She knew in theory how wild and ferocious an alpha in rut could be.

She also knew that, unlike omegas in heat, suppressants wouldn’t entirely quell their rut. That’s why alphas relied less on suppressants, and once they started, they often spent days locked in the bedroom until the rut subsided completely.

Though Do-kyung’s rut seemed to have ended in less than a day, she chalked it up to him being an extreme alpha and exhaled a hot breath.

Her body was growing hotter by the minute. It seemed like she might actually be coming down with a fever.

Suddenly, Ra-on muttered under her breath,

“…Who does he think he is, making that face.”

Confusion flickered across her face, hidden between her knees. Unaware of her own expression, she bit down on the tip of her tongue.

[“Alright. I’ll keep my mouth shut and protect Jihyung, and you obediently spread your legs whenever I need you.”]

She should have been the one hurt by Do-kyung’s cutting words and his treatment of her as nothing more than a courtesan. Yet, he had looked as if he were the one being tormented.

Why should he?

Pressing her palms harder against her closed eyes, Ra-on swallowed hard. Forcing the thick saliva down her throat, she slowly opened her eyes again.

But here’s the absurd part: despite being in a situation where she should have been furious, her heart had momentarily sunk. That sensation lingered vividly, even as she mocked the knotting story, making her chest feel nauseatingly tight. Now, it gnawed at her like a thorn buried deep within.

“…”

Resting her cheek on her knees, she stared at the desk. There was the glass of water Do-kyung had left behind, along with several neatly arranged medication packets.

Staring at them for a long moment, Ra-on eventually staggered off the bed. Her trembling legs felt weaker than a newborn calf’s. Wincing involuntarily from the burning sensation between her legs, she grimaced and steadied herself against the desk.

Two pink pills and five white ones lay there. Birth control and pheromone suppressants, respectively.

Feeling bloated and uneasy, Ra-on popped a birth control pill into her mouth and swallowed. Then, tearing open the suppressant packets, she dumped them all into her mouth at once before shifting her gaze.

A used syringe lay nearby. Frowning slightly, Ra-on picked it up, and as she did, a small bag attached to it slipped off and fell limply, catching her eye.

That’s when she noticed the label partially obscured by the syringe.

“Rohibit…?”

It was a well-known suppressant for ruts, one that Ji-an occasionally used as well.