CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42

Yu Jin’s POV

I sat on the bed and rubbed my neck where he’d bitten me. The skin still felt warm, like it had its own heartbeat.

Min kept pacing.

He wasn’t talking. Not really breathing normally either.

"Sit down," I said.

He didn’t.

I dragged myself to my feet, walked up behind him, and grabbed his wrist. "Park Min. You’re making me dizzy."

He slowed. Looked at me. His eyes were still darker than normal, but at least I could see the brown again. That should’ve calmed me.

It didn’t.

"Yu Jin..." he said, voice low.

"What?"

"I can smell everything on you. Every emotion. Every tiny shift. I can’t stop it. I..."

A sharp knock hit the door.

Both of us froze.

Min’s hand moved faster than my eyes could track. He pulled me behind him and stood between me and the door like he expected gunfire.

Another knock. Firmer.

"CEO Park Min-ssi," a man said from the hall. "We need to speak to you. It’s urgent."

My stomach dipped. "Please tell me that’s room service."

Min didn’t answer. He inhaled once, scent sharpening. "Government."

"What kind?"

He didn’t get to respond. He opened the door before I could pull him back.

Four officers stood there in black regulation jackets, badges visible. Behind them were two older men in business suits, board members of rival companies, judging by the smug, tight smiles on their faces. They weren’t here to disrespect him. They wouldn’t dare. They just wanted to witness him fall.

The lead officer nodded. "CEO Park. Thank you for cooperating."

Min didn’t say, "I’m cooperating." He just stared at them until their smiles twitched.

One officer stepped forward with a scanning device. "We need to confirm a pheromone irregularity. It will only take. ...."

Min cut him off. "If you put that thing on me without explaining why you’re here, I’ll throw you and your badge off the balcony."

The officer swallowed. "There was a disturbance earlier tonight. A spike. Very high saturation. It reached the National Omega Safety Board."

I felt my throat tighten. Of course they meant him.

Another officer cleared his throat. "We’re required to assess the source. That’s all."

"No disrespect intended," the first officer added quickly.

I almost laughed. Even scared, they were trying to sound in charge.

Min didn’t move, but the air around him shifted. His scent got heavier, like the whole room tilted toward him. I grabbed his sleeve before he could escalate.

"Let them scan," I muttered. "We already know you’re not human anymore."

That earned a tiny twitch in his jaw, but he stepped aside.

The officer lifted the scanner. "This may feel warm."

He held it near Min’s neck.

The device beeped.

Then crackled.

Static burst from it like it was breaking apart.

The officer frowned, shook it, tried again.

Another burst of static. Then nothing.

He checked the screen.

His face drained.

The suit behind him leaned in. "What’s wrong?"

The officer ignored him. His voice came out quiet. "This can’t be right."

Min’s fingers flexed at his sides. "Talk."

The officer looked up at him like he was seeing something impossible.

"He’s not just fallen-class..." His voice shook. "He’s evolving."

Something inside me dropped so hard I forgot to breathe.

Evolving.

Not presenting. Not late-blooming. Mutating.

The officer wasn’t done. "His pheromone readings are off the charts. There’s no category for this. The system can’t register it."

The board members behind him exchanged looks, excited ones. Not fear. They wanted him unstable. They wanted him ruined.

One of them stepped forward, hands clasped like he was pretending to care. "CEO Park, this is serious. Your condition could endanger others. The regulations require containment..."

Min turned his head just enough to look at him.

The man shut up immediately.

Min took a slow breath. "If you think you’re containing me, try."

His voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be.

The officer hesitated. "Sir, protocol says any bonded omega must be separated until the alpha is stabilized."

Right there, my blood ran cold.

Separated.

I already knew exactly what Min would do to prevent that.

I stepped forward before he could. "Protocol can wait. I’m not going anywhere."

"That decision isn’t yours," the officer said carefully. "Your bond mark shows tearing along the edges. You were injured. That places you in...."

"I said I’m not going anywhere."

He opened his mouth again.

Min moved.

He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t threaten. He just stepped forward, and all four officers stepped back in perfect sync like prey animals reacting to a predator.

Even the board members shuffled away like they’d remembered they had wives and children.

"Yu Jin stays with me," Min said. "Regulation or not."

"We understand, sir," the second officer said quickly. "But we need a containment reading. For your own safety."

Min looked like he’d never heard anything more ridiculous.

"For my safety."

"Yes."

He extended the scanner again, hand trembling.

Min didn’t move. He let them try.

The scanner sparked. Not malfunctioning, reacting, like Min’s scent was interfering with the circuitry. The officer jerked his hand back with a hiss.

"I can’t get a reading..."

The second officer tried a backup device from his belt.

Same problem.

It beeped once, shrilled like an alarm, then shut off entirely.

The officer stared at it. "This is a level-one disruption but there’s no heat signature, no overload. How is this possible?"

One of the board members exhaled sharply. "Because he’s not presenting. He’s turning into one of them."

Min’s eyes flicked to him. "One of what?"

The man took half a step back. "A....an evolving-class. They’re theoretical. They’re not supposed to exist."

I could feel Min’s scent flare, thickening until my knees almost buckled. He noticed instantly and slid one hand behind me, stopping me from dropping.

The officers noticed too.

"Sir, your pheromone pressure is destabilizing the air quality," the lead officer said, voice shaking. "Please lower your scent."

"I’m not doing anything," Min growled.

The man swallowed.

The board member cleared his throat. "CEO Park, this could cause a market collapse. Your company’s stocks already dipped the moment the video leaked. If you show instability..."

Min stepped forward again.

The man shut up so fast he choked.

Min didn’t look at him again. Instead, he looked at me.

His hand closed around my wrist. Tight. Warm. Almost desperate.

"Yu Jin," he said quietly. "We’re leaving."

"We can’t," the officer said quickly. "The regulation..."

Min’s head whipped toward him so fast the officer stumbled. "The regulation doesn’t outrank me."

"But sir..."

"Try putting your hands on him," Min said. "See what happens."

The officer went pale.

The second officer gestured to his partner subtly. "Should we call headquarters?"

He whispered, but both of us heard it.

Min inhaled sharply. "Call them."

The officer blinked, confused. "You... want us to?"

"Yes," Min said. "Call everyone. Gather every board member who wants me gone. Gather every officer. Gather every executive hiding behind regulations. Bring the whole system if you want."

His fingers tightened around my wrist.

"Just don’t touch him."

The room went silent.

The officer lifted his comm device, clearly panicking. "Control, this is Unit 48. We have a level-four irregularity. The subject is..."

Min’s scent snapped like a wave hitting concrete.

Everyone froze.

The glass table in the room cracked straight down the middle.

I felt the bond slam into me like someone punched inside my chest.

My vision blurred for a second.

Min grabbed my face with both hands. "Focus on me."

"I’m... I don’t..." I tried to breathe. "Min, your scent... "

"I know." His thumb pressed against my jaw. "Stay with me."

One officer tried to step closer.

Min didn’t even look at him. He just breathed out once.

The officer’s knees hit the ground.

The others flinched so hard one of the board members backed into the wall.

"Sir," the officer gasped, "please stop your scent it’s too dense"

"I told you," Min said without emotion, "I’m not doing anything."

But he was.

His scent wasn’t heavy. It wasn’t angry. It wasn’t even aggressive.

It was changing.

It felt like pressure building under the floor, like the whole room was being pushed down. My ears rang. My chest hurt. My legs shook.

Min noticed.

He wrapped an arm around my waist. "I’ve got you."

One of the officers managed to get to his feet. "We need to evacuate the building!"

A board member shook his head fast. "If he steps outside, the sensors will catch the pressure spike. He’ll be declared a hazard."

"So what do you want us to do?" the officer snapped.

The board member pointed at me. "Separate them. The bond is feeding the instability."

The moment he said it, Min’s grip changed.

His scent snapped again, sharper this time.

I felt it before I heard it the shift, like something inside him twisted. His breathing broke. His pupils dilated again, swallowing the brown.

"Don’t finish that sentence," Min said, voice not fully human.

The board member swallowed. "I only meant..."

"You meant to take him," Min said softly. "Good luck."

His scent surged again.

The lights flickered.

Two officers fell forward onto their hands, gasping for breath.

Min looked at them like he didn’t understand why they were on the floor. He wasn’t even angry. He was confused. That scared me more.

"Min," I whispered. "Listen to me."

His eyes snapped to mine.

For a second, just one second, I saw fear under everything else.

Not fear of them.

Fear of himself.

I put my hand on his cheek. "You’re here with me. You’re fine."

His fingers locked around my wrist again. "I’m not."

"You are."

"You’re shaking."

"Because you’re radiating enough scent to melt the building, idiot."

A tiny, broken laugh escaped him. "I can’t control it."

"I know."

"I’m trying"

"I know."

One of the officers tried again. "Sir, please we need to relocate you to a controlled environment."

Min didn’t even look at him. "No."

"It’s protocol."

"I said no."

The officer looked at me. "Yu Jin he could hurt you."

I looked back at Min.

Then at them.

"He already did," I said. "And I’m still staying."

Min’s breath hitched. His grip loosened, just a little.

The board member stepped forward again. "This is dangerous. And irresponsible. CEO Park, if you continue refusing regulation, the Board will..."

Min turned his head slowly.

The man froze.

"You think," Min said quietly, "that a board of old men can discipline me."

The man swallowed but didn’t back down. "We can remove you from your position."

Min almost smiled. "Try."

I felt the shift before anyone else did because the bond connected us. Something clicked inside him. Not pain. Not instinct.

Control.

His scent pulled back, just enough that the officers could breathe normally again. They gasped like they’d been drowning. The board members sagged like someone had cut their strings.

Min straightened.

He didn’t look wild anymore.

He looked dangerous in a different way calm. Like he’d chosen a version of himself to put on.

He pulled me against his side.

"We’re done here," he said. "Leave."

"Sir..."

"Leave."

The officers exchanged a look. They knew they couldn’t arrest him. Not legally. Not with this kind of scent output. Not with his position.

The lead officer bowed slightly. "We’ll... file a preliminary report. Someone will contact you tomorrow."

"No," Min said. "They won’t."

They didn’t argue.

They backed out of the room.

The board members followed, sweating through their suits, trying to pretend they weren’t terrified.

When the door clicked shut, the silence hit like a wave.

Min’s knees buckled.

He caught himself on the wall with one hand.

"Min..."

"I’m fine." His voice was thin. "Just... too much at once."

I moved toward him. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer until our foreheads touched.

"You’re shaking," he whispered.

"You’re evolving," I said.

His breath hit my cheek. "I don’t want this."

"I know."

"I don’t want to hurt you."

"You won’t."

"You don’t know that."

"I do."

His eyes closed. "You should leave me."

"Yeah," I said, breathing hard. "Too bad I’m already tied to you for life."

His fingers tightened in my shirt.