‘I guess sleeping it off for a few hours did the trick.’

Kim Dokja stretches his arms as he sits up from his bed. The painful ordeal he experienced during the early hours of the morning disappeared. His body felt lighter and energized, the feverish feeling and the pulsating pain on his abdomen had vanished.

'I guess I should avoid doing heavy exercise and overeating at the same time… It must have been indigestion last night.'

Dokja arose from the mattress to stretch his back, and then made his bed. He opened the curtains and one of the windows. The gentle winter breeze brushed his cheeks, and the warm, midday sunlight illuminated his room.

'Wait...what time is it?’

Dokja recalled that today was his scheduled admission to the hospital, he quickly glanced at his alarm clock on the night table to check the time. It was 10:29 AM.

A sigh of relief escapes from his mouth. Dokja thought that he missed the appointment since he had woken up late.

'Well, I still have two hours left before admission. If I take the train, it would be around 30 minutes. I should just get a cab so it'll be faster getting to Yonsei Hospital.'

Kim Dokja felt iffy as he snuffed the scent of dried sweat from his pyjamas. He perspired a lot a few hours ago and since he was exhausted, he wasn't able to change clothes before getting back in bed.

"I should get ready too." He strips off his nightwear and places it on the laundry basket. Dokja scurries off to the bathroom to wash up and prepare for his departure.

***

Dokja felt full as he just finished eating brunch. He finally finished the bulgogi and kalguksu that Jonghyuk had left for him yesterday.

"I wonder if the neighbours are in… How should I deal with Jonghyuk's food…. Haaahhh."

He massaged his bloated tummy and rested for a bit. A few seconds later, a satisfied burp escapes from his mouth.

'Ah, I should refill the pain relief meds on my cabinet too… I remember, there was none left in my stash. Can't risk being helpless again if I get indigestion again' He then gazed at the wall clock in the dining room, it was now 11:27 AM.

'The convenience store is just downstairs… I still have spare time to buy some before I go.' Dokja groans.

"I won't have enough time to drop by the neighbours and give the food…" He then goes to the fridge and transfers the remaining containers into the freezer. 'Sorry, Jonghyuk… I wasn't able to finish everything. Hopefully, these should last for a week if frozen.' Dokja's face looked troubled, he sighed as he stacked the boxes one by one.

'I should hurry, I need to depart by noon.'

Dokja darts off to his room to grab his wallet and his jacket. He checks his phone for notifications and once he cleared them, he plugged it on the power outlet to charge.

"It'll probably take just a few minutes, I'll get back and pick it up before I leave." Dokja bolts out of the flat and heads down to the convenience store to buy last-minute essentials.

Dokja left the apartment complex in a hurry, as he rushed to the convenience store, Kim Dokja noticed that people around him were looking at him strangely. Some girls would flush red as he strolled past them while a couple of bystanders would cover their noses and run away from him.

'Do I still smell like sweat? I already took a bath a while ago…' Dokja groans as he runs toward the shop.

He crossed the street and approached the storefront. Dokja spotted a group of gangsters who were smoking cigarettes by the trash bins, it looked like they were waiting for someone.

There were three of them, one was wearing a black pile jacket, another wore a navy trenchcoat and the third had a tribal tattoo on his right cheek down to his neck. The trio looked like the shady neighbourhood loan sharks.

The men then noticed Dokja who was walking towards the store.

The trio kept on staring at him, their eyes showed hostility and held a hint of malicious intent towards Dokja. His gut knew that the thugs were up to no good.

'Why are they looking at me? I don't want any trouble.' Dokja quickened his pace and averted his eyes from the group. He enters the convenience store and scans the shelves for pain relief meds, small snacks and a few toiletries.

'Come on, go away… I'm in a hurry.' He stalled for a bit and pretended to take his time taking out products from the shelves. Dokja then saw the men leave the storefront from his peripheral vision.

A sigh of relief escapes from his mouth. Once he was certain that the nasty-looking group had left the area, he went towards the counter to pay for his items. Dokja checked the time on the store's wall clock, it was already 11:49 AM. His eyes dilated in panic, he then exited the store after getting his change and dashed back to the apartment.

'Crap, I only have eleven minutes left! I should hurry and-'

Dokja stops on his tracks as he sees the gangsters from the storefront blocking the path. The three men looked like they had been eagerly waiting for him.

An ominous feeling crawled through his body. Dokja felt his knees trembling. He then asked the group in a timid voice.

"W-what do you want? I’ll hand over my wallet to you so please don’t bother-"

"You’re an Omega, right?" The tattooed man steps up and approaches Dokja.

Dokja's face turned pale as he backed away from the man. Cold sweat trickled from his neck. "I-I'm not! You must be mistaken!"

"Yo bro, that kid is clearly lying. I know the smell of an unripe Omega! Hahaha!" The hooligan with a black jacket interjects. "Good thing we found one here!" The man licked his lips as he stared at Dokja.

"Hey, don't agitate him too much. We can't have valuable merchandise leak out pheromones!" The man in a navy coat appears behind Dokja, surrounding him.

"P-please, leave me a-alone! I'll g-give you all my m-money so-"

The tattooed man cuts off Dokja. "Kid, we don’t need those if we can sell you for a higher price in the auctions tonight." He cackles as he inched closer to Dokja. The man then signals to his accomplices to close in on Dokja.

Suddenly, the man in the navy coat lunged at Dokja and grabbed him from behind. The man wrapped both of his arms on Dokja's neck and shoulder.

"L-let me g-go!" Dokja dropped his belongings as he struggled to break free from the man's armlock.

"It's useless! Just come with us qui- Ooowww!!!"

Dokja bit down on the man's arm hard until he felt like the flesh tore off and bled. The man holding him got distracted by the excruciating pain and released his grasp. Dokja saw it as an opportunity to escape and broke free from the thug's clutches. He then bolts away from the men as fast as he could.

"You idiot! Don't let the merchandise get away!"

The tattooed man checked on his wounded colleague while the hooligan wearing a black jacket pursued Dokja.

***

A bitter grimace was on Yoo Jonghyuk's face as he sat on the backseat of a cab.

'Kim Dokja... where the hell did you go?'

Jonghyuk abruptly checked out of the hotel a few moments ago after hearing from Hyunsung that they lost contact with Dokja. Jonghyuk found it unusual, he knew that the brat would readily answer the landline at home if he was there.

'He's not in the hospital or at school… I hope he's just at home, sleeping.'

He decided to return immediately to check on Kim Dokja.

"Sir, we've arrived in Yeouido Garden Estates." The cab driver parked the car just in front of their apartment building.

"Thanks, keep the change."

Jonghyuk hands over the fare to the driver and collects his sports bag. He then alights from the cab. He hurriedly went inside the building and ran towards their flat.

'Please be in your room… deep asleep.' Jonghyuk prays as he enters the passcode into the door.

He then opens the door and an overwhelming scent of pheromones greeted him. The heavy fragrance of lavender intoxicated him and his vision became hazy as the Alpha instincts raged within him.

"Shit!"

Jonghyuk dropped his bag and quickly covered his face with his sleeve. He then closed the door and backed away from it. Jonghyuk takes out his inhibitors from his bag and ingested a few pills. He then sits down across the doorway as he waits for his meds to work.

"D-damn it! Did he start manifesting already?"

Jonghyuk pulls out his phone and tries to ring Dokja. He waited for a moment but the line wasn't answered. Jonghyuk then dials and calls the home phone.

'Come on… Answer it, you brat.'

The line became unattended and it routed Jonghyuk's call to the answering machine. Jonghyuk gets up and prepares himself to enter the apartment. "Fuck this, that brat is probably dreaming aga-"

As Jonghyuk was about to key in the door passcode, he heard a set of heavy footsteps echoing along the corridor.

He turned his head and saw three men approaching his direction. One had a tattoo on his cheek and neck, the second was wearing a black jacket and the third looked injured as he had a bandage wrapped on his right arm. The trio looked completely exhausted and was mumbling to one another.

The group noticed Jonghyuk and pretended that they were just passing by.

"Yo bro, did you see that? That's the house of the Omega earlier!" The man with the black jacket whispers to his colleagues as he glances quickly at Jonghyuk.

"Then we'll wait here. That kid should be returning home after running away from us." The tattooed man smirks as he mumbles. "Let's wait for that uncle to go away after a bit."

"A-are you guys sure this is the right place on the ID? There's a scary-looking guy by the door ahead." The injured man grumbles. He then takes out a brown leather wallet from his pocket to check.

"This is the damn place! Yeouido Garden Estates, 7th Floor, Apartment G4." The man with the black jacket takes the wallet and pulls out Kim Dokja's ID from it.

Yoo Jonghyuk's eyes widened. His face was fuming in anger as he heard their murmurs. His right eye turned golden as he saw one of the men holding onto the wallet. Jonghyuk recognised it.

It was the first gift he had bought for Dokja on his 16th birthday celebration.

Murderous intent filled Jonghyuk's thoughts as he saw the men in possession of Kim Dokja's valuables. His vision dimmed and an overwhelming rage burned inside him.

"You fuckers!"

Jonghyuk yells furiously at the trio, a snarl was etched on his face and his irises radiated with an ominous glow, intimidating the group.

"Stop taking things that don't belong to you."

***

It was already 7:00 PM and the sun had set, the cold winter breeze and heavy snowfall swept through Yeouido Hangang Park.

As the night deepened, the street lamps along the grounds slowly dimmed, leaving only the illuminations of the attractions near the Han River.

One area, however, was devoid of visitors as it was the middle of winter. Kim Dokja was hiding under a small concrete cubby house in one of the children's playgrounds along Yeouido Hangang Park.

"Ugh… this again!" Dokja flinches as he senses the pulsating pain from his abdomen intensify. "Haahh…. Haaaahhh...C-crap! I s-should h-have taken m-my scarf t-too…" His breathing was erratic, and he felt feverish.

Dokja curls up and tucks his hands under his shirt to warm up. The cold winter wind pierced through his clothes and his cheeks were pale. Small ice crystals settled on his hair, brows and eyelashes as the snowfall dropped the ambient temperature.

The ordeal he experienced a while ago traumatized him and Dokja was apprehensive to return home. He knew that the thugs who cornered him would do everything in their capacity to get a hold of him.

"I-if… only I h-have m-my phone... I-I'm so screwed…"

He shivers as the winter breezes through the openings of the cubby house. "I-I need t-to get back s-soon…" Dokja tries to stand up, but the pain in his abdomen deepens and instead, slumps down to the frozen ground.

Tears swelled from his eyes, Dokja wanted to move but his body wouldn't cooperate. His eyes squinted in pain and his body felt terribly heavy.

It reminded him of the cold, stagnant floors of the subway station where he used to dream. He was once again stuck in a dark place, all alone with no one around to help him.

"Y-Yoo… J-Jong… Hyuk..."

Kim Dokja's vision went dark.

***

"Kim Dokja! Are you here!?"

Yoo Jonghyuk was screaming at the top of his lungs, as he rushed along the walkways of Yeouido Park. He had been running and asking around the island of Yeouido looking for Dokja for the last three hours.

He takes out his phone from his pocket and sees the time, 7:06 PM.

"Fuck, it's getting late…" He then calls Lee Jihye for an update.

"Jihye, have you found him!?"

[Not yet, Captain, calm down! Namwoon and I already swept the apartment block, but all of the residents said they didn't see Dokja.]

"How about the stores!? Did you ask around!?"

[We did! The cashier at the CU convenience store said Dokja bought a few items and left before 12 noon.]

"Did the cashier say anything special?"

[She said Dokja looked a little flushed and there was a weird flowery scent on him… I'm sorry, captain… but that's all we got from her.]

"Shit…" Jonghyuk drops the call and rings Hyunsung.

[C-captain! Have you found Dokja!?]

"Not yet, did any of those bastards fess up?!"

[They're still being interrogated by the police officers here in the station… I'm sorry captain, I couldn't do anything…]

"Goddamnit! Did the man who tried to chase Dokja say anything?"

[He said he lost Dokja near the riverside area… Captain, what if something happened to-]

Jonghyuk releases the call and activates his Red Phoenix Shunpo with haste.

"By the river… is he perhaps around Hangang?"

He leapt through the park while scanning the people in the ground with his Sage Eyes. Once he cleared the area near the public plaza, Jonghyuk decided to check on the area near the pavilion. He then lands near the ruins of the old statue of King Sejong.

He stopped for a bit and fixed his coat while brushing off the snow that accumulated on his hair, as the snowfall intensified in the last hour.

"Shit… it's going to be a snowstorm soon. Where the hell are you-"

Jonghyuk stops as his nose caught a whiff of a familiar scent, it was Kim Dokja's pheromones.

It was faint, but Jonghyuk was certain that Kim Dokja had definitely passed through the area recently.

"Kim Dokja! Kim Dokja!"

Jonghyuk yells as he strolls past the statue ruins. He then heads to the area where the old Samojeong Pavilion stood, as he treads along the pathways, he passes by a dimly-lit playground.

"Fuck… this scent!"

Jonghyuk covers his nose. The scent of pheromones had increased as he inched near the playground. He quickly takes out his inhibitors and ingests another pill to suppress his instincts.

"Kim Dokja!! If you can hear me, answer me!!" Jonghyuk presses on and scans the playground with his Sage Eyes.

"Where are you?! Dokja-"

His eyes dilated in shock as he scanned the area where a concrete cubby house stood, he then rushed towards it.

"Dokja!! Dokja!!"