Dirty Switch

Dr. Woo spoke lightly, as if it were nothing serious—but that didn’t make the content of his words any less weighty.
“I explained it clearly to Director Seo—that the Switch he gave you didn’t suit your body well, and that until your condition stabilizes, it’ll be necessary for the two of you to share pheromones regularly. He understood what I meant.”

What the hell...!
Joo Taehyun almost shouted without meaning to but barely held it back. His jaw was so tense that it audibly ground.
Seriously? Baekhan bought that flimsy excuse?
“...Doctor, just because the medication he gave me didn’t work doesn’t mean we need to have sex—or whatever this ‘pheromonal interaction’ is supposed to be.”
“Oh, but that’s not true. Your body did react sensitively to the Switch Director Seo gave you, and the abnormal symptoms disappeared after the two of you had intercourse, didn’t they?”

In a situation where nothing had been made clear, the only discernible improvement had come from one particular solution. As your attending physician, Dr. Woo insisted that failing to mention this to Seo Baekhan would only make him more suspicious.
“Of course, I’m sure Director Seo has his reservations too. But he was the one who provided the Switch, so he probably couldn’t outright object. Now then—how are you feeling now? Much better than before, right?”
It was a roundabout way of asking: even inside a house saturated with Seo Baekhan’s pheromones, you’re not in uncontrollable heat anymore, are you?

“If my theory is correct, then it seems that pheromonal interaction with your imprint partner—through intercourse—had a stabilizing effect.”
“...”
“I’ll do my best to gather as many case studies as possible on spontaneous reversal of unilateral imprinting. You don’t need to worry about anything else—just focus on your health.”

“He’s a specialist in secondary gender biology and the youngest ever Director of Jejungwon... If I really did imprint unilaterally, it’s only a matter of time before he figures it out.”
“Well, what can you do? In any case, I told Director Seo that your current instability was due to the Switch he gave you, and that we’re refusing any further testing or treatment from his side.”
“...What?”

“So if he comes around trying to press the issue, just say it’s all because of that damn drug he gave you. That bastard...!”
Trying his best to keep things light and steady so Taehyun wouldn’t panic, Dr. Woo couldn’t help letting a curse slip at the end.
“Ahem. Pardon my language. But seriously—he’s over thirty and he still did that to our young master? It’s infuriating.”

And it wasn’t an exaggeration. Just before Taehyun came to, Dr. Woo had literally been raising hell—so much so that even Seo Baekhan, along with the slippery aides from the Seo family and their assigned doctors, had looked visibly unsettled.
Sure, maybe it was done under the guise of calming a pseudo-heat, but still. To reduce a healthy Alpha’s body to that state?
Dr. Woo, along with the entire medical team and DH Group staff, had worked tirelessly to help Taehyun reach his current level of health!
What made it even more upsetting was that there was barely any sign of pleasure having been involved at all. He’d examined Taehyun’s body thoroughly, and aside from the bruises and red marks around his buttocks and thighs, there was no trace of any affection or indulgence.

“You know, Doctor… I saw another Alpha for the first time the other day.”
“Oh? And how was it? Did their pheromones make you uncomfortable?”
“Nope, I ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) loved it!”
“Hmm? You liked another Alpha’s pheromones?”

“Yeah! Do you know him, by any chance? He goes by Baekhan hyung…”
Dr. Woo never cared for the gossip surrounding the children of the rich, but even he had long known how Taehyun felt about Seo Baekhan. Ever since their first encounter when Taehyun was twelve, he’d been timidly bringing Baekhan up during every routine checkup. It was impossible not to notice.
“Doctor, I took a Switch the day before yesterday. A Dirty Switch.”

“...What?”
“I’ll explain later. Could you run a drug response test for me? I’m curious if it gives the same readout as when someone takes actual narcotics.”
Even when he was twenty and stubbornly insisted on marrying Seo Baekhan for unavoidable reasons, Dr. Woo had known that the Switch had nothing to do with it—he simply liked him that much. Just like the rest of Taehyun’s family, Dr. Woo had chosen to pretend not to know.

Legislation around Switch could have been handled in other ways—even without marrying Baekhan. In fact, forming an alliance through other channels might have been more beneficial to DH Group.
But what could he say?
The boy had looked so earnest.
After all those years of acting so grown-up, never asking for anything, suddenly here he was—desperate to live with someone he clearly loved.
And above all, no matter how it began, Dr. Woo had always believed Taehyun would be loved. Without question.

That’s why, even with great unease, he’d decided to take part in Taehyun’s fragile marriage plan at age twenty.
“Young master… This may be presumptuous of me, but I think—”
Knock knock.

Just as Dr. Woo steeled himself to say more, someone knocked on the door. At the same time, Taehyun’s eyes began to tremble.
There was only one person who would show up at a time like this.
The knock wasn’t loud or soft—just the right decibel. Not rude, but not particularly courteous either.
It was the kind of sound that revealed too much about the exhausting man standing outside.
“Yes, you may come in.”

The door opened at the exact moment of permission. As if the person outside had planned to come in regardless.
“I’ve got a meeting soon, but I thought I should talk to Taehyun before that.”
Seo Baekhan entered with a faint smile. And that was it.

He didn’t look angry. He didn’t seem cold or sarcastic either.
He was just... the same Seo Baekhan as always.
“Ah, yes. I’ve already explained everything I told you earlier to our young master here. Once your schedule allows, please come to Seoul so we can proceed with the examination.”

“Thank you.”
Dr. Woo stood and gave Taehyun’s shoulder a pat. The same kind of gentle reassurance he used to give when Taehyun was little—don’t worry, I’m here.
But the warmth of a kind adult faded quickly, and all that remained was the lonely fact that he was alone again.

“...Joo Taehyun.”
Even when called, Taehyun stubbornly kept his eyes fixed on the floor.
Maybe Baekhan didn’t expect a response, because he didn’t press the issue. He simply sat down at the edge of the bed with a quiet thud.

“We’ve got things to talk about.”
***
—Anyway, Seungpil! If you don’t transfer again this time, I’m taking you off the family registry!

“Ugh…”
Cheon Seungpil stared at the screen of his phone, which he’d tossed aside long ago. Only after the call ended did he puff up his lips like a horse snorting in protest.
There was no way he was ever going to succeed academically. He’d lived in the U.S. for years and still couldn’t speak English beyond everyday basics.
And yet, his parents hadn’t given up—they were still pressuring him to transfer to a better school.

Transfer? He couldn’t even see himself graduating from community college.
He’d barely scraped into a small vocational college in Jersey City, thanks to Taehyun’s help. The school was so tiny, it was even smaller than the language institute he’d been attending before.
Still, his parents had been overjoyed. And now they were hounding him to transfer again, and again, to better and better schools—until he finally graduated from SUNY.
They’d turned his life into a laundry cycle of fake academic “success,” and Seungpil was starting to regret setting foot in college at all.

“Ugh… That kind of thing only worked when Taehyun was dragging me by the collar. What am I supposed to do alone now…”
“Joo Taehyun?”
“Wh-What the hell? Fuck—”

Someone had suddenly appeared, pronouncing Taehyun’s name perfectly, and Seungpil whipped around in shock.
“Of course. Hey! I don’t have anything to say, so buzz off, you fucking tabloid rat!”
After Taehyun’s flashy marriage announcement a few years ago, more than a few reporters had crossed the ocean to dig up dirt on him. So Seungpil had every reason to snap sharply.
He thought things had quieted down once Taehyun returned to Korea—but here we go again.

“Tabloid? Excuse me, I’m PJ’s son.”
“PJ? What the hell is that?”
“Ah, uh, well… maybe you know the name Pungjin Industries? We recently went public, and rebranded the group name a bit.”

The guy looked exactly like one of those oily types who scammed clueless Korean expats using fake English names like James or John. He flicked his wrist with an exaggerated grin, showing off a gold watch studded with diamonds that shimmered obnoxiously on his pudgy arm.
“I’m Kim Seungjun, by the way. Do you have a minute? I won’t take much of your time.”