Dirty Switch

It took a moment for Prince Yi Hwang’s words to fully register.

If he’d said Joo Taehyun was in rut, Baekhan might have accepted it without question—but a heat? Like an Omega?
There was no time to ask again. From where Taehyun leaned against him, Seo Baekhan suddenly felt something sticky—viscous fluid seeping through.
Forgetting he’d been trying to keep Taehyun upright, Baekhan stared down at him as he let out a faint groan. His pale skin had flushed with fever, and sweat had thoroughly soaked through his shirt.

Once again, Baekhan moved before thinking. He stripped off the outer robe he was wearing and wrapped it tightly around Taehyun’s body. Regardless of what was happening, he couldn’t let his spouse appear in front of people like this—as if he were in heat.
“…Yes. He should rest at Buyongwon. Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”
“Good. No one can access that wing without permission... Jeong Sangwon.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Double-check the lockdown around Buyongwon just in case. And you escort them there yourself. The car they came in hasn’t been parked yet, right?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll take care of it right away.”

“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness. Visitors aren’t allowed to travel by car within the palace—”
“There’s a patient. Let’s make an exception.”
Prince Yi Hwang waved them off with a casual flick of his hand. The car they had arrived in glided forward again, summoned by Jeong Sangwon’s swift signal.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Baekhan slung one of Taehyun’s arms over his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. It looked like support, but in reality, he was practically lifting all of Taehyun’s weight with one arm.
“Joo Taehyun. Hold it together until we’re in the car. Walk straight.”

He murmured against Taehyun’s hair as it brushed his collarbone. Even that faint breath seemed to provoke a strong reaction—Taehyun gasped and tried to clamp his legs together.
“If that’s too hard, then at least try not to look like you’re in heat. Just pretend you’re a sick person. Buyongwon’s close.”
The word heat made Taehyun flinch. His body, limp like wet cotton, suddenly regained a trace of strength. Though he still struggled to breathe, he made an effort to maintain some semblance of dignity—as befitting the youngest son of DH Group, and the spouse of the Director of Jejungwon.

Still, even with their bodies so close, Seo Baekhan couldn’t pinpoint anything specific. He could tell Taehyun’s pheromones were leaking—but not to a degree that felt like a rut or a heat.
Was that even possible? Taehyun was a typical Alpha. He’d manifested young, sure, but there’d never been any reclassification, and his pheromone levels had always remained consistent.
“Like… not an Alpha in rut. More like an Omega in heat? That’s what it feels like.”
But Prince Yi Hwang had noticed something. And he was someone who had personally witnessed every possible anomaly among trait-bearers. That alone meant his words couldn’t be ignored.

His consort—also male—had their constitution altered into an Omega by pharmaceutical tampering. It was thanks to the Yi Hwang couple that imprinting phenomena among trait-bearers became widely known throughout Asia. Despite medical consensus that pregnancy was impossible in such rare cases, his consort had given birth to two children after imprinting.
So Baekhan knew better than to jump to conclusions or make rash judgments… and yet—why couldn’t he sense anything?
When it came to traits, one had to consider every possibility. There could be an unknown factor even he wasn’t aware of. And yet, the fact that even now—while Prince Yi Hwang had sensed something so clearly—he still hadn’t picked up on it was deeply troubling.

“There’s a phone in the guestroom that connects directly to the palace staff quarters. Once he stabilizes, please use it to contact us. I’ll send up a test kit and trait meds immediately.”
“Thank you, Sangwon.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just hope it’s not serious.”

Thankfully, they were in Yeonhwagung. And in Pyongyang. Whatever had destabilized Taehyun’s body, Seo Baekhan was confident he could manage it.
…He had to.
***

The layered sliding doors, fitted with motion sensors, opened and shut silently. At the end of a long hallway was a chamber—deep within Buyongwon—the highest and most private inner quarters of the building.
Though this wasn’t Baekhan’s first time in a royal compound like Yeonhwagung, it was his first time stepping into a space meant for actual rest.
But there was no time for awe. He gently laid Taehyun, soaked in sweat, onto the bed. What surprised him most in that moment was how firm Taehyun’s body felt in his hands—like stone. That frail kid whose uniform always looked too big—when had he built such a solid physique?

“Ah… ngh…”
The silk sheets brushed against the soaked outer robe, causing friction. Taehyun curled into a ball as if he couldn’t endure the sensation any longer. From biting his lips so hard during the car ride—trying not to make a sound—blood now trickled from the torn flesh.
“Joo Taehyun.”

He called, but Taehyun kept his eyes shut, motionless. Judging from the way his eyelids trembled in something like a spasm, he hadn’t lost consciousness…
Baekhan shrugged off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair, then took a deep breath. Still, he couldn’t sense anything. If anything, the pheromones in the parking garage last Friday had been stronger.
“Whether you’ve got your eyes shut out of embarrassment or exhaustion, I know you’re not unconscious.”

“…”
“Once we get the kit from Sangwon, I’m doing a rapid test. Then we’re going straight to Pyongyang University Hospital. I’m not calling the palace physician. And if it does turn out to be a Switch reaction, we’ll use trait irregularity as an excuse and head back to Seoul.”
“…”

“I already get reports on who you sleep with and when. Are you still embarrassed in front of me?”
As Baekhan moved closer to check on him, Taehyun flinched and rolled away, trying to curl up even smaller. But a tall man can’t make himself disappear just by curling into a ball.
“I already know you’re soaked front and back, so—”

“Th-that’s not…”
When Baekhan reached to turn him over, Taehyun finally spoke—barely.
His body cast a long shadow over Taehyun’s curled frame, so he couldn’t see his face clearly. But the way his long lashes trembled told Baekhan enough about his chaotic emotions.

“It’s not just that I’m embarrassed… I… I thought you’d think it’s gross… You’re a man… an Alpha… and you’re not even interested… I mean, you don’t even like… me, so—ngh…”
His words came out in a broken whisper, wet with shame. The more he spoke, the harder it became to breathe.
Baekhan finally backed off—partly in response to the plea, but more so to observe Taehyun’s changing body up close.

As if he knew what Baekhan was thinking, Taehyun curled up even tighter.
His tailored black dress pants were soaked up to the thighs. The custom fit clung to him, and the fluid that had drenched the back of his trousers was clearly visible. It was… a shocking amount—enough to make Prince Yi Hwang’s misdiagnosis understandable.
“…Last week. When you stayed alone in the guest room. How long did it take to settle down?”

“…”
“How long do I have to stay away for it to pass?”
Baekhan grabbed Taehyun’s waist and pulled him flat onto his back, forcing him to face the ceiling—and Baekhan.

Taehyun trembled like he’d taken a punch to the gut.
“…Hyung.”
Please.

His voice cracked, barely breathing between the desperate, ragged words.
And that’s when Baekhan finally felt it—Taehyun’s pheromones, vivid and undeniable. As if his body had been waiting for Baekhan’s touch to break, it surged forward, wrapping around him.
“Ah, fuck.”

Baekhan instinctively covered his mouth with the back of his hand. The scent—rich with the sweetness of crushed fruit and thick green—burst violently around them.
Even as a fellow Alpha, the sheer aggression of it made him wince. It was so overpowering that he cursed—words he normally never used—escaping unbidden. It scraped at his nerves like glass on skin.
What the hell is wrong with him? What does Taehyun even enjoy about sleeping with another Alpha?

“I-I’m sorry… my body’s just…”
Taehyun, covering his mouth, struggled to suppress his ragged breathing. But he had clearly heard Baekhan’s curse and whispered apologies again and again.
“I’m sor—nngh, ah…!”

At the same time, a wet, tearing sound rang out. Taehyun froze, unable even to blink. Baekhan’s gaze lowered instinctively toward the noise.
“…What the…”
Despite trying to stay calm, this time even Baekhan couldn’t hide his shock.

Around where Taehyun’s groin would be, the fabric of ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ his trousers had bulged, now stretched so tightly it was beginning to split. The fine fibers were visibly tearing.
“…Ha.”
A bitter laugh slipped out.

If Baekhan’s guess was right, then Taehyun’s body wasn’t just behaving like an Omega in heat—it was simultaneously experiencing rut symptoms, like knotting.
What the hell was happening to him?