Dirty Switch

Rut…?
“I said get out.”
Only then did Seo Baekhan’s words, swallowed like a curse just moments ago, finally register.
Come to think of it, I had already been told that his rut was due soon. On top of that, he’d received multiple alpha pheromone enhancer injections, and just recently, he underwent surgery... A sudden rut wasn’t exactly unexpected. It was, in a way, inevitable.
There was no point in checking the pheromone neutralizer anymore. The device must not have been calibrated for such levels—it ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) had already malfunctioned a few times, and now it emitted a piercing, tinnitus-like screech at regular intervals.
“Haah—”
Struggling with the rising heat, Seo Baekhan flung off his overcoat and yanked off his suffocating tie—but still, he remained upright, refusing to collapse.
His shirt clung to him with sweat, outlining the rippling muscles of his body like mountain ranges. If not for that, it would’ve been hard to tell just how overwhelmed he truly was.
In contrast, I...
Joo Taehyun quietly looked down at his own body. His toes trembled involuntarily, the residual effects of his pheromone irregularities not yet fully gone. He hadn't expected to so clearly feel that the imprint still lingered, however faintly.
But unlike before—when Seo Baekhan’s pheromones would render him helpless, soaking through and losing all control—this time, there was none of that. His mind remained perfectly clear, unlike when he’d lost it at Yeonhwagung.
He couldn’t feel a thing from Seo Baekhan.
Seo Baekhan tried to suppress his labored breathing, but it was obvious he was losing control. Sweat dripped ceaselessly from his chin, as if he were crying.
Flushed red from arousal, veins bulged across his exposed skin in stark blue relief, throbbing violently. The air in the room grew sweltering, so much so that it seemed like steam was rising from the crown of Baekhan’s head and his shoulders.
And yet, Joo Taehyun felt nothing.
Amazingly, he was fine.
He could still pick up the subtle scent of the room’s amenities—those sterile, well-regulated notes typical of luxury suites. And yet, Seo Baekhan’s pheromones… completely bypassed him.
“I’ll go get Dr. Woo.”
Seo Baekhan said nothing. He just gripped the handle of the room service cart so hard it looked like it might snap. The soft sound of his shoe tip tapping the floor echoed faintly—he was clearly holding himself back from lunging forward.
“Taehyun, you still... feel nothing, huh.”
Just as Joo Taehyun finally turned toward the door after glancing back and forth between Baekhan and his own body, Baekhan spoke in a low, broken voice. So fractured, it was almost unrecognizable.
“You can’t feel me at all, huh.”
He used to nag endlessly at me to keep my lips closed, and now here he was, grinding his teeth so hard his lower lip looked ready to split.
“Even now, my pheromones… they don’t reach you? Not even a little?”
A strange, feverish gleam filled Seo Baekhan’s gaze as he stared at Joo Taehyun. His eyes were soaked in a twisted kind of despair, like someone abandoned—even though no one had ever promised him anything.
It was strange.

This was the first time it truly felt like an end. Even when he’d declared their divorce in front of all those people, he hadn’t felt like this.
Even after his heart had been worn down to nothing, even after he’d finally said he’d give up—this long, one-sided love hadn’t once brought him to tears. But now, with the dying embers sputtering one last time, the back of his eyes burned with sudden heat.
“Yes. I can’t feel it.”
Joo Taehyun answered, his voice dry and cracked, like it had been scorched clean. It was all he could offer Seo Baekhan now.
“Not a single thing.”
He’d already cried in front of him more times than he could count. Screamed, collapsed. He didn’t want to show any more of those pathetic sides of himself.
“You can use this place. Until you're feeling better.”
Seo Baekhan might have been doubled over, but he still hadn’t fallen. Maybe he felt the same.
When did this start? When did they begin to resemble each other?
Lost in the moment, Joo Taehyun found himself staring at Seo Baekhan again—then quickly shook his head and looked away.
Resemble? That was generous. He’d just been chasing him the whole time. Imitating him. Trying to win even a sliver of his heart.
When will I finally break this terrible habit of hoping, even in moments like this? I wish every step I took would shake off the leftover mess of emotion.
Joo Taehyun pulled out his phone and opened the door. A chill breeze swept against the sweat gathering on his back.
“...Hello? Ah, Doctor. I’m really sorry, but could you come check on Baekhan? Yes, Baekhan, not me. I think he just went into rut—”
Even after the door shut, the high-pitched screech of the warning device wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears.
“Mm, I’m not sure. I can’t sense anything myself, so I honestly have no idea what kind of state he’s in.”
Riding the descending elevator, Joo Taehyun felt like he was endlessly falling, deeper and deeper toward the end.
***
His own rough, echoing breath felt foreign.
Seo Baekhan had clung to composure, trying not to become some rabid beast, but when he heard the door shut—he let out a short, involuntary laugh.
“...Joo Taehyun.”
His name slipped out without thought, floating on his tongue, in his mind, in every part of him.
From that moment on, it was all over.
Joo Taehyun. Joo Taehyun. Taehyun-ah.
His name overflowed, like a dam breaking. If someone were to cut him open, they’d probably find the syllables ‘Joo Taehyun’ etched all over his insides.
He wanted to hold onto Joo Taehyun.
He’d even allowed himself the shameful hope that if he looked visibly wrecked from this unexpected rut, maybe Joo Taehyun would… take pity on him. Accept him out of guilt.
Or maybe he could just beg. Just once. Please, just this once.
What pride could matter in the middle of a heat-induced breakdown? It wasn’t called a rut for nothing. Whether it was rut or heat, no dominant or recessive was free from this biological grip. It wasn’t something willpower could overcome.
And yet all Seo Baekhan could do was watch as Joo Taehyun turned his back and left him behind.
“I can’t feel it. Not a single thing.”
Only now, watching someone completely immune to his pheromones, did he realize this was the end. It couldn’t be denied anymore. Joo Taehyun had already reached his conclusion. Even if a messy trail of remnants lingered, for him, it was already over.
And it was only after accepting Taehyun’s ending that Seo Baekhan finally realized the truth of his own feelings.
“Dr. Seo! Oh no, his condition is...”
Ah. So that’s what this is.
I like Joo Taehyun.
It wasn’t because he was easy to be around. It wasn’t because the sex was good. It wasn’t because the imprint worked.
It had nothing to do with any of that.
He didn’t know when it had started. But he liked Joo Taehyun.
He liked him. He still liked him.
“Professor, what should we do?”
“Let’s administer an emergency suppressant. The rut was triggered after multiple pheromone injections—this is a special case. Anything beyond that would be risky.”
The sound of the door opening and medical staff rushing in felt so far away.
As their voices broke through in fragments, Seo Baekhan laughed like a madman.
Only after Joo Taehyun raised his white flag—only after the rut tore through him and forced every buried instinct to the surface—did he finally understand.
And now, everything that hadn’t made sense until now clicked perfectly into place.
He liked Joo Taehyun.
If it had been anyone else, would he have accepted that ridiculous proposal?
Sure, the conditions were decent, and he’d been intrigued by Taehyun as a person, which was why the marriage happened. But if he were being honest, his usual self would’ve dismissed it flatly—a guy’s still a guy.
Even if an unforeseen pheromone issue had arisen, he would’ve just called for medical equipment and waited it out like an observer.
But no. Despite knowing his own preferences all too well, he’d accepted Joo Taehyun. Let himself be held by him.
He should’ve known from the start that this man was different.
And only now did Seo Baekhan face the contradictions he hadn’t even realized about himself.
What followed that realization was a kind of despair he wasn’t used to.
He liked Joo Taehyun…
He didn’t want to end things like this.
So then—how the hell was he supposed to hold onto him?
One of his greatest strengths had always been the ability to respond quickly and handle things flexibly. But right now, no answer came to mind.
All he could see was Joo Taehyun’s face, flashing hazily through his fevered thoughts.
Crying like he was disgusted. Pushing him away. And eventually, rejecting every part of him completely.