CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44

Yu Jin’s POV

I barely slept after the hallway incident. Not because of the reporters or the board or the cameras honestly, that was becoming background noise at this point but because Min kept pacing between the window and the door like the floor owed him answers.

He didn’t talk much. He only muttered occasionally under his breath, analyzing the situation, turning it over like a dangerous puzzle. Every time he walked past me, I felt his scent grab the air and twist something inside me.

My chest kept tightening at random. My head felt too clear and too foggy at the same time. I wasn’t sure which part of that was mine and which belonged to him.

Around noon, he finally stopped pacing.

"We’re leaving the suite," he said.

"Why?"

"They’ll try again. This time with a legal angle." He grabbed his jacket. "We need to move somewhere they can’t corner us."

"Where? A bunker?"

He ignored my sarcasm. That irritated me more than it should’ve.

We headed to the elevator. My stomach was tense, but I hid it as usual. Min didn’t hide anything. He stood beside me like he owned the arena.

Which, ironically, he kind of did.

I rubbed my wrists. They felt warm, almost pulsing. I didn’t look at him. I knew if he saw that, he’d start analyzing again, and I didn’t want to be analyzed like a malfunctioning device.

Halfway to the ground floor, the elevator stopped.

I frowned. "Did you press something?"

"No."

The lights flickered.

Min’s scent sharpened.

The doors slid open slowly.

Three officers stood waiting. All wearing white medical bands on their arms.

Omega Safety Division.

Perfect.

The lead officer lifted a tablet. "CEO Park. We need your compliance for a routine stabilization assessment."

Min said nothing.

I stepped forward slightly. "Why now?"

"It’s standard," she said.

"It wasn’t standard yesterday."

She hesitated that tiny break in her expression told me I hit the mark.

Min’s voice was low. "Who authorized a medical assessment?"

"Your board did," she said. "There was concern."

"Concern or opportunity?" Min asked.

"No comment."

He laughed under his breath. "Of course."

Another officer stepped forward with a silver case. "Sir, it’s just a pheromone stabilizer. A mild sedative. It will help with your..."

"No," Min said.

"CEO Park, if you refuse, we’ll have to file a noncompliance report.."

"You’re not injecting me with anything."

"It’s legal under emergency classification.."

"Emergency?" Min repeated. "What emergency? A headline that wasn’t even accurate?"

She didn’t answer.

I stepped closer, irritated beyond measure. "Can someone explain why the ’safety protocol’ only shows up when a man with more money than your organization gets scanned? But not when actual dangerous alphas roam around hurting people in real ways?"

Her jaw tightened. "Mr. Yu Jin, this is not about social issues."

"It never is when the omega is standing right here," I said.

She stared at me, direct, unblinking.

"You’re showing bond-linked distress," she said. "Your symptoms are part of the report."

I froze. "What symptoms?"

"Head pressure. Scent sensitivity. Heart rhythm disturbances."

I looked at Min sharply. "Did you tell them?"

"No," he said immediately.

"Then who.."

The officer lifted her tablet again. "There were readings from the hotel corridor after the confrontation. Spikes in both your pheromone signatures."

Oh.

So we were being monitored by the building.

I swallowed hard.

Min stepped in front of me like he was shielding me from radiation. "You’re not touching him. And you’re not touching me."

"Sir, we only want..."

"You want a headline," Min said. "A photo. Proof I’m unstable so the board can cut me out. They’ve been trying for a while now."

"CEO Park..."

"The answer is no," he said again, sharper this time.

The air tightened around us. My heartbeat jumped to match his, and I couldn’t control that.

The officer hesitated.

She scanned Min’s expression. She scanned mine. She smelled the tension.

Then she stepped back.

"This refusal will be reported."

"Send it to the board room," Min said. "I like when my enemies announce themselves."

She pressed the elevator button and left with the other officers.

The doors shut.

Min exhaled once and rubbed his neck.

I leaned against the wall. "So, stabilizers. They were really going to sedate you."

"Yes."

"That would’ve knocked you out in front of the entire world."

"That’s the point."

"That’s disgusting."

"It’s fucked up."

"Still disgusting."

He didn’t disagree.

My pulse was still elevated. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or the bond or both.

The doors opened into the lobby.

People stared at us.

Not obviously just enough for their gazes to bounce on Min’s wrist, then mine, then his eyes, then the air around him like they were measuring an invisible radiation level.

It made my skin itch.

We went straight to the car. A company driver opened the door, nodding nervously.

Inside, Min finally broke his silence.

"You felt the pressure again."

"Obviously," I said.

"When?"

"When you got angry."

He went quiet.

I stared out the window. "Do you... feel anything from me?"

"Sometimes."

"What exactly?"

He hesitated. "Your pulse. Your anxiety. Your attention."

"My attention?"

"You look at things differently now," he said. "Faster. Sharper."

I rolled my eyes. "Min, this isn’t funny."

"I know."

He looked tense again. Too tense. That usually meant more trouble.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"A shareholder dinner."

"What? Why?"

"They forced an emergency meeting. If I don’t show up, they’ll assume I’m unstable. They’ll push interim leadership."

"Can’t you cancel?"

"No."

"And why am I going?"

"You’re required."

"Required?" I repeated. "As in..."

"They want to evaluate us publicly."

I stared at him. "Min, this is insane."

"It’s how they play."

"Then maybe don’t play it damn!!."

He shook his head. "We don’t have a choice."

The car pulled into the hotel where the dinner was being held.

We entered the ballroom.

Everyone fell silent.

Every gaze shifted to Min. Then to me. Then back to him like they were comparing samples.

Min walked with a deliberate calm. I walked next to him, trying not to look like a walking time bomb.

We sat at a long table with board members and investors. I recognized two of them from the leaked documents last week the ones who hinted Min was a "volatile asset."

Fun.

One of them smiled at me too warmly. "Mr. Yu Jin. We’re honored that our Human now Alphas omega, you of course could attend."

"Sure," I said. "I love being evaluated like livestock."

Min’s foot tapped mine under the table either a warning or an apology. Hard to tell with him.

Drinks were served. Conversations restarted. But everyone kept glancing our way.

Min barely touched his food. He only pushed it around the plate. He kept pressing his thumb against his pulse point like he was checking it.

Trace behavior.

That wasn’t normal for him.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

He didn’t look up. "Fine."

"You’re lying."

He finally met my eyes. "Yu Jin."

"What?"

"Don’t react if something happens."

I straightened. "That’s not comforting."

"Wasn’t meant to be."

Before I could respond, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

I flinched instantly.

A voice said my name. "Yu Jin?"

I turned.

And my stomach sank.

Hyesung’s golden boy. The one with the perfect reputation, the perfect smile, and the talent of flirting with anything that had a pulse.

Kang Dae-hyun.

A pure alpha.

An attention seeker.

A walking problem.

But damn he was hot. Wait what am I thinking.

His hand stayed on my shoulder a second too long.

Min didn’t move.

But the air around him did.

Dae-hyun grinned. "Didn’t expect to see you here. You’re glowing. Bond looks good on you."

"Don’t touch him," Min said.

Dae-hyun raised a brow. "That’s a strong tone, CEO Park. Jealous?"

Min didn’t blink. "Remove your hand."

Dae-hyun smirked and lifted it slowly, as if daring Min to snap.

I felt something inside my chest tug sharply like the bond jerked in reaction.

My breath hitched.

Min’s jaw clenched. "Yu Jin?"

"I’m fine," I muttered. I wasn’t.

Dae-hyun leaned closer, ignoring Min entirely. "If you ever feel unsafe, you know where to find me."

"I’m not a stray cat," I said.

He laughed. "No, but you always had terrible taste in alphas."

Min stood so fast his chair scraped.

Dae-hyun didn’t back up.

Idiots never did.

Min’s scent hit the air like a punch. Sharp, concentrated, burning at the edges. Enough to make the entire table stiffen.

I couldn’t breathe properly.

"Min," I said quietly.

Nothing.

He didn’t hear me. Or he did and didn’t care.

Dae-hyun held up both hands. "I’m only being friendly."

"You’re provoking a bond-linked alpha undergoing mutation," Min said. "You’re not friendly. You’re suicidal."

Someone at the table whispered, "Is he unstable?"

Someone else whispered, "Look at his eyes."

Great. Cameras were definitely rolling.

"Min," I repeated, stepping close. "Listen to me."

His breathing was uneven.

Another trace.

"Look at me," I said. "Not him."

Finally...finally...he turned his head toward me.

And I saw it.

His pupils were blown wide.

Not in lust.

Not in anger.

In overload.

He was drowning in pheromone pressure.

The bond was pulling him in every direction.

I reached up and touched his wrist lightly. "Min. Stop."

He exhaled shakily. The tension in his shoulders dropped a fraction.

Board members watched us like a live experiment.

Dae-hyun backed up. "You two need help."

"Leave," Min said without looking at him.

Dae-hyun scoffed. "You think you scare me?"

Min didn’t answer.

But the way he stared past me made Dae-hyun take two steps back anyway.

"Enjoy the dinner," Dae-hyun muttered before leaving.

Min sat back down slowly.

His hands shook once before he hid them under the table.

Another trace.

I leaned in. "You’re losing control."

"No," he whispered.

"You are."

"I’m holding it."

"That’s not the same thing."

He didn’t deny it.

The meeting continued, but people spoke more quietly. Every time Min inhaled, the table stiffened. Every time a waiter passed behind me, Min’s eyes followed them suspiciously.

He was tracking threats automatically.

I wasn’t sure if it was instinct or mutation.

Halfway through dessert, I felt a wave of heat hit me from inside my chest.

I grabbed the edge of the table, steadying myself.

Min noticed instantly.

"Yu Jin?"

"I’m fine," I breathed.

"No. You’re not."

He stood again.

People flinched.

"Meeting’s over," he said.

"It isn’t," a board member protested.

"It is," Min said. "For me."

He walked around to my side of the table and lifted me by the elbow gently.

More trace behavior.

We left the ballroom without another word.

Outside in the hallway, I finally pulled my arm from his grip. "We need to talk."

"Agreed."

"Privately."

"Agreed."

We entered an empty anteroom.

The moment the door shut, Min leaned against the wall and exhaled deeply. Too deeply.

"You were shaking," I said.

"So were you."

"That’s not the same."

"You think I don’t know that?"

He rubbed his temple. "Yu Jin, something’s wrong."

"No kidding."

"I can feel everything."

"Everything?"

"Your heart rate. Your breathing. Your anger. Your fear. Your focus."

He paused.

"And something else."

"What something else?"

"I don’t know. It’s new."

I crossed my arms. "Great. We’re both science projects now."

He didn’t laugh.

I stepped closer. "Min. Look at me."

He did.

His eyes were tired in a way I’d never seen.

"I’m not leaving you," I said.

He breathed in. "You should."

"Well, I won’t."

His expression flickered.

Not relief. Something he didn’t want me to name.

Before he could argue, someone knocked on the door sharply.

Min stiffened. I stiffened.

He opened it only a crack.

An officer from earlier stood there alone.

"CEO Park," she said. "We need Mr. Yu Jin for questioning."

"No," Min said.

"It’s mandatory."

"No."

She lifted a file. "We have new data."

"What data?" I asked, stepping forward.

She looked at me.

"Your mutation markers."

My blood turned cold.

Min’s fingers curled around the door.

"Yu Jin isn’t going anywhere," he said. "Ever."

The officer met his stare without fear.

"That," she said calmly, "is exactly why we need him."