TCBW C78

Chapter 78

“Shut that mouth.”

Dowoon finally spoke, unable to hold back any longer as he strode past Sara. His voice was low, controlled, but simmering with anger—and though Sara was a Beta and couldn’t sense pheromones, the sheer menace in his tone made her flinch.

It wasn’t the pheromones she felt—it was the disgust in his eyes. The kind of contempt she had never seen in him before.

For the first time, Sara couldn’t meet his gaze.

Dowoon watched her for a fleeting moment, then turned away, his focus entirely on the unconscious figure in his arms.

“…Wake up. Please, wake up.”

Suhoe’s eyelids fluttered at the sound of his name. He opened his eyes slowly—but there was nothing. No light. No color.

He blinked several times before realizing that he was standing in the middle of a world swallowed by darkness.

“Where… am I?”

He looked around, waiting for his eyes to adjust, but the darkness was absolute. Not a shadow, not a shimmer of light.

He tried to use his other senses. The air was thick and humid. Warm water rose to his ankles, lapping softly around him.

A riverbank…?

That was his first thought. But Suhoe had never seen anything larger than a shallow pond in his life. He couldn’t be sure. Still, the unfamiliar place didn’t frighten him.

Something about it felt oddly familiar—like a forgotten dream. The warmth that wrapped around him was comforting, almost like an embrace.

So, instead of panicking, Suhoe closed his half-open eyes and listened to the sound of rippling water beneath his feet.

Then, following a faint scent that drifted through the air—rich, sweet, and unfamiliar—he began to walk.

Each step sent soft ripples across the surface, his pale legs cutting through the dark water. There was no hesitation, no fear.

He moved as if he already knew where he was supposed to go.

I think… I know this place. I think I know where I’m going.

The muddy ground beneath him clung to his feet, pulling him down, but even when he stumbled, even when he fell face-first into the water, he rose again and walked on—deeper, and deeper still.

“Haa… haa…”

Finally, he stopped when the water reached his chest. The cold pressed against him, the gentle waves brushing his neck. Breathing was difficult, but he wasn’t afraid.

Even as his body cooled, even as his heartbeat slowed, Suhoe waited.

He didn’t know why, but he felt he was waiting for something—or someone.

It feels like I’ve been waiting for this… like I promised to.

His dark lashes glistened with moisture as his eyes lit faintly. Beneath them, his pupils shone like drops of ink, deep and full of reflected water.

He waited. And as he did, small air bubbles rose to the surface—one, then another, breaking softly in front of him.

He reached out instinctively, and from the water emerged a large, smooth sphere—almost the size of his head—floating up toward him.

He didn’t know what it was, but the sight brought a hot rush of emotion to his eyes. His wounded eyelid and stinging nose burned red as he gathered the sphere into his arms.

Then, overwhelmed by something he couldn’t name, he began to cry.

“…I’ve been waiting for you.”

He knew, instinctively, that this was the moment he’d been longing for.

Even as the soft mud sucked at his feet, dragging him down little by little, he clung tighter to what he held, unwilling to let go.

Something brushed against his inner arm—soft and smooth to the touch.

He lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against it, inhaling the faint, familiar scent.

“Peach…” he whispered.

Even in the brackish water, the scent was warm and sweet, spreading comfort through him.

He pressed his face closer, listening to the faint rhythm that pulsed quietly within it—steady and calm.

“…Ah.”

Tears fell again, slipping down his cheeks.

“It’s good to see you.”

He held it for a long, long time.

“When I was hurting… were you hurting too? When I was afraid, were you scared with me?”

There were so many questions he wanted to ask. But instead, he only made a silent promise—to protect this gentle, fragile thing in his arms, no matter what.

“Madam.”

When Suhoe opened his eyes again, the warm, damp air was gone. The water had vanished.

He was lying on a hospital bed—inside Yongseong Hospital.

“Madam, can you hear me?”

The voice belonged to Haeon.

Suhoe blinked, slowly coming to himself. The moment he realized where he was, he sat up abruptly and looked down at his arms—his chest—searching for something.

But of course, there was no peach there.

“Madam…”

“Hhhk—haaah…”

The sound broke out of him before he could stop it. He knew what it meant—that it wasn’t gone. Not really.

Ignoring Haeon’s worried voice, Suhoe clutched his stomach tightly and began to cry, loud and unrestrained.

“Is your stomach hurting? Are you in pain?”

The panic in Haeon’s face deepened. In all the time he’d known Suhoe, he had never seen him cry like this—never seen him feel this much.

Something was terribly wrong.

“Madam, please—what’s wrong?”

But Suhoe didn’t answer. He only held his abdomen tighter, curling forward as if protecting something precious.

This is all because of that woman.

Haeon’s heart pounded with fear. The thought that Suhoe might have broken completely terrified him. And worse—how could he possibly explain this to Dowoon?

He fumbled for his phone, typing out a quick message to the CEO before pressing the nurse call button above the bed.

As he prayed for the medical team to arrive quickly, Haeon glanced back at the crying young man before him, his shoulders shaking violently, and remembered that night.

He had been overseeing Sara’s pursuit late into the night. Yongseong’s security division was already searching, but they needed someone to coordinate with the Saeman Group as well.

Then came Dowoon’s call—cold, furious, almost incoherent with rage. Haeon had immediately gathered his team and headed for the Balhwa-dong apartment.

When they arrived, the sight that greeted them was chaos.

Sara was there, screaming, her body cut and bleeding from shards of glass.

“Bring me Lee Dowoon! If you don’t, I’ll die right here!”

Her shrill cries had echoed through the whole building.

She must have been under the influence of some stimulant—she didn’t seem sane. Haeon had restrained her at first, intending to bring her in, but soon received instructions from Dowoon to simply get her out.

It seemed there had been some kind of negotiation with Saeman.

When Haeon escorted her outside, the chairman of Saeman Group himself was waiting. His face was grim as he took his daughter away without a word.

Only after that did Haeon go to see Suhoe—now hospitalized, unconscious.

“…Madam… what on earth…”

He looked down at him now, covered in white medical bandages—across his face, arms, and legs.

Even from a distance, the air around him was thick with Alpha pheromones—so strong that it made it hard to breathe.

Haeon had never imagined Sara could hurt him so badly. He had thought everything would be fine because Dowoon was there.

But when he saw Suhoe—broken, and Dowoon beside him, unable to contain his pheromones, eyes wild—he understood.

“Secretary Choi, I—excuse me for a moment.”

Before he could respond, a familiar voice called from behind him.

Professor Eun, Suhoe’s physician, stood in the doorway, her expression grim.

It had been some time since they last met, but she wasted no time on greetings.

“This is about the CEO,” she said quietly.

“The CEO?” Haeon repeated, startled. “Not Madam Suhoe?”

“Yes. I know he was isolated during his rut after the drug incident, but I’ve reviewed the substance he took. It’s a highly concentrated pheromone stimulant that directly affects the brain. The side effects are particularly severe for extreme-type Alphas.”

“Meaning…?”

A sinking dread filled Haeon’s stomach. He covered his mouth, afraid of what he might hear next.

Professor Eun nodded gravely.

“He’s lost all memory of his rut period. Completely.”

Haeon froze.

“After you brought him in, we ran tests while tending to Madam’s injuries. I spoke briefly with him about what happened, and he remembered nothing—nothing after the night at the hotel, up until the day Madam was hurt.”

“Is it… permanent? Will there be lingering side effects? Any additional damage?”

The word side effects made Haeon’s voice tighten with alarm.

Professor Eun’s face darkened. She didn’t answer immediately.