Divorce Contract C142

Chapter 142

In the hospital room, now emptied in an instant, Go Igyeol sat alone, feeling the weight of silence press down on him as he waited for Seo Dohyeon.

Time crept by unbearably slowly. He tried not to count the minutes, tried not to look at the clock, but when he finally gave in and checked, it had barely moved.

“Only five minutes…” he murmured under his breath.

He paced back and forth, rubbing gently at the tender spot near his eyebrow where a dull, hot ache persisted. He was staring blankly out the window when the door suddenly opened.

“Were you alone?”

“……”

“Did Ihyeon already come by? How’s your body? They said you were in pain—are you all right?”

Seo Dohyeon’s steps paused briefly before he crossed the room in swift strides.

Go Igyeol, who had washed away all traces of blood, looked clean now—but the bruises beneath the skin stood out vividly, more visible than ever.

Without thinking, Seo Dohyeon reached out. His fingertips brushed softly over the cut above Igyeol’s eyebrow, and the latter winced.

“Does it hurt? The doctor said they’d only know how deep it is once the swelling goes down.”

“…Are you all right?”

Igyeol’s gaze fell to Seo Dohyeon’s hand, wrapped neatly in a half-cast. For a moment, Seo didn’t seem to understand the question—then he followed Igyeol’s eyes, looked at his own hand, and nodded.

The anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off, but it was only a stitched wound—not deep, not unbearable.

“I’m fine,” Seo said. “He wasn’t skilled with a knife. It didn’t cut very deep.”

“Still… please don’t do that again.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Seo replied quietly. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“No, that’s not what I meant… I meant—you don’t have to do that because of me. You don’t have to…”

At that, Seo finally understood.

He looked at Go Igyeol—at the anxious eyes, at the trembling lips forming words meant to protect him—and his expression twisted painfully.

He stared at him, voice rough with disbelief.

“Are you saying I should’ve just let you get hurt? Is that what you mean?”

“I know you wouldn’t have. We’re… family, after all. Minjun—he wouldn’t have gone that far—”

“No,” Seo cut him off. “Ko Minjun was hitting you. The moment I moved, he was going to drag you into oncoming traffic. I nearly lost my mind thinking you’d die right there—and you think I should’ve just stood there and watched?”

“Seo Dohyeon—you got hurt!”

Igyeol’s voice cracked as his eyes dropped to Seo’s hand again. The memory of the blood soaking through the handkerchief, turning it dark and stiff, flashed before him.

He flinched and stepped back instinctively. Seo closed the distance between them just as quickly.

“It’s just a hand. What does it matter? Why are you acting like it’s something terrible? You think I should’ve let you bleed instead?”

“……”

“Even if I could go back, I’d do the same thing,” Seo said firmly. “If provoking him again meant his blade would hit me instead of you, I’d do it. Every time.”

“…Why,” Igyeol whispered, his voice trembling, “Why would you do that?”

Seo met his tearful eyes and stepped closer. He tilted his head slightly, brushing his thumb beneath Igyeol’s wet lashes, and then—without warning—pulled him into his arms.

He rested his forehead against the clean skin of Igyeol’s neck, his voice low and raw.

“…Because I can’t stand to see you hurt. Because I—”

He swallowed hard, forcing the rest of the words down before they could escape.

He didn’t want to burden Go Igyeol with the truth, not now.

“I’d rather be the one who bleeds,” he whispered instead. “Because when you’re hurt like this… I can’t bear it.”

His arms tightened faintly around Igyeol’s thin frame.

“I hate that you got hurt,” he said, his voice shaking. “The thought of a scar on your face—here, above your eyebrow—it makes me sick. That scene keeps replaying in my head. Even with guards there, I still couldn’t protect you. Do you know how pathetic that makes me feel? How furious I am at my own uselessness?”

“…No one could’ve stopped what happened today,” Igyeol murmured. “It’s not your fault. Not theirs, either. I was just… unlucky.”

Kind as ever, he tried to comfort him, to ease the guilt he knew Seo was drowning in.

Seo exhaled heavily.

He knew the truth—every misfortune that had touched Go Igyeol had begun with him.

If things hadn’t gone wrong from the very beginning… would life have been better for him?

He brushed his palm along Igyeol’s trembling back, voice barely audible.

“Do you really believe that?”

“……”

“These days…” Seo said slowly, “…I keep imagining things that could never happen. Ridiculous, impossible things.”

“What kind of things?”

“The kind that end with ‘and they lived happily ever after.’”

The quiet confession trembled in the air.

Igyeol’s lashes fluttered.

“…Every day,” Seo continued, “I want to go back. Back to the past, Igyeol.”

“……”

“I know I’m cunning,” he said bitterly. “Because I know that if I begged, you wouldn’t be able to leave me. Even remembering everything I’ve done to you, I still… want to hold on.”

He pressed his forehead against Igyeol’s shoulder, heat radiating through his skin, before slowly lifting his head.

When Go Igyeol reached out to brush the moisture beneath his eyes, his fingertips barely touched dry skin—

And then the air changed.

A rush of pheromones flooded the space.

“…Seo Dohyeon,” Igyeol breathed. “Your pheromones…”

“Haa…”

Seo’s expression twisted, full of restraint and pain. He caught Igyeol’s hand briefly, then released it, stepping back.

He strode to the window, threw it open wide, and let the cold wind strike his face.

The sharp air cooled the fever in his veins, but when he saw Go Igyeol shivering at the sudden chill, he closed it again.

“The suppressants aren’t working,” he said quietly. “Not since that day.”

“Then… what will you do?”

“I’m going to admit myself to the hospital,” Seo replied. “I was going to ask Shin Eunsuk to come up to Seoul and stay with you for a few days. But… everything’s fallen apart now.”

He raked a hand through his hair, his usual calm nowhere to be found. His breathing was uneven, his composure shattered.

Finally, he pressed a hand to his mouth as if holding something back and crossed the room in long strides.

“I’ll come back later,” he said roughly. “Right now… I can’t.”

“Seo Dohyeon…”

“I don’t want to lose control.”

He didn’t look back.

Go Igyeol took a hesitant step after him but stopped. He knew—this time, if Seo’s control slipped, it wouldn’t end with just a pheromone shower.

The door opened.

Closed.

And he was gone.

Seo Dohyeon was admitted that evening.

Because suppressants were no longer effective, the doctors decided to use a sleep-inducing sedative. A guardian’s written consent was required for administration.

Since Seo and Go Igyeol were still legally married, Yoon Jaeseon asked Igyeol to sign it himself.

“I don’t remember signing anything last time…” Igyeol said hesitantly.

“Ah, that’s because you received the pheromone treatment together then,” Yoon explained. “This time, the dosage of the sedative is much stronger, so we need authorization.”

The form stated that the hospital would not be held responsible for any side effects caused by the sedative.

“Is it really that dangerous?” Igyeol asked, voice trembling. “What if something goes wrong?”

“There’s no need to worry,” Yoon said kindly. “He’s always come through safely. This time will be no different.”

“Still…”

His voice faltered as he looked up at Yoon, eyes filled with unease. At the reassuring nod he received, he bit his lip and signed the paper, his hand shaking slightly.

As Yoon left to submit the consent form, Go Igyeol sat blankly, his mind spiraling.

Would he really be all right? What if there were side effects? What if he didn’t wake up?

The lines from the form he’d just read replayed in his head—rare complications, non-responsiveness, respiratory failure.

Should he retract his consent? Tell them to wait? Why had Secretary Yoon said it would be fine so easily?

If only he could take his place instead…

He was lost in thought when Yoon returned, smiling kindly as if to assure him there was nothing to fear.

“Would you like to see him for a moment before the procedure?”

Go Igyeol nodded at once. He couldn’t calm down until he saw Seo Dohyeon with his own eyes.

After Yoon checked with the front desk, a nurse arrived to escort him upstairs.

The ward they entered was quieter, larger—a restricted floor reserved for high-ranking Alphas.

The nurse led him to a wide glass window. Beyond it, Seo Dohyeon sat on a hospital bed, his brow furrowed, irritation plain on his face.

“He’s been fasting since last night,” the nurse explained. “They’ll administer the sedative soon.”

“Is the sedative… really safe?”

“Of course. The explanation about side effects is just a precaution, for rare cases.”

“The door…” Igyeol murmured, noticing the heavy lock.

“Ah, yes. Because an Alpha’s rut can be dangerous to an Omega, the rooms are double-sealed. Even if it’s unintentional, Omegas sometimes get affected by pheromone exposure.”

Go Igyeol said nothing, his eyes fixed on the man beyond the glass—still, restrained, yet somehow unbearably distant.