The Second Male Lead Syndrome

WARNING

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME READERS

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Realizing what was happening, Sora tightened her grip on the soju bottle beside her. When the three men noticed what she was holding, they snickered. The one with glasses clutched his stomach as he laughed.

"You think you can fight us with that?" 

A strong scent of cedar drifted into Sora's nose, making her feel uneasy. 

It was the pheromones of alpha—sharp and overpowering, with a heavy presence that clung to her senses, stirring a deep sense of disgust she couldn't shake off

The one with glasses stepped forward, squinting as he adjusted the frame on his nose. "Are you Hyacinth?"

Aurora stood still, her arms loosely folded as she gave a calm, unreadable smile. "What do you need?

The others glanced at each other, shifting their weight as tension settled between them.

"Is that her? Is that Hyacinth?" one of them asked, tilting his head slightly as he eyed Aurora from top to bottom.

"Did you check the picture?" another asked, crossing his arms.

"I told you guys to double check, but you didn't, did you?" the third one muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with irritation.

The blond man stepped a little closer, eyes narrowed. "It's not like we could. The client didn't even give us a proper picture—just said she was pretty."

The other two nodded slowly, though there was still some doubt in their expressions. 

One of them tapped his foot against the pavement.

The other clenched his fists slightly, glancing between Aurora and his companions.

The girl, who had been standing quietly behind them, finally stepped forward. 

Her voice was flat. "Does it really matter who's Hyacinth? We just need to beat them up."

She cracked her knuckles, and the others straightened a little, their posture shifting as if preparing for a fight. 

One rolled his shoulders. 

Another took a step to the side, casually positioning himself to surround Aurora.

Aurora didn't move, her calm gaze fixed on the group as they began to spread out.

The one who had released their pheromones earlier did it again—but this time, it was even stronger.

Sora reached for the back of her neck, clearly affected.

Noticing Sora's discomfort, Aurora scoffed. "Pathetic. You've got more people on your side and still use cheap tricks. What kind of alpha are you—from walmart? All bark, no bite?"

Hearing Aurora's words, the one who had released his pheromones darkened his expression. 

The other two were nearly bursting with laughter, but when they saw their companion's face, they immediately went quiet.

The one with the weird yellow haircut suddenly charged at Aurora with a punch. 

Aurora dodged it effortlessly.

Seeing their leader rush in, the others joined the fight. 

The one with the bald head moved more precisely—he seemed to have more fighting experience than their leader.

Aurora and the bald man were fighting face to face, while the other two rushed in to attack Aurora

Aurora smiled in satisfaction as she noticed they were all targeting her now—which meant no one was going after Sora behind her.

No one could get past Aurora's defense. 

Anyone who tried was immediately knocked back, practically sent flying, so they eventually gave up and chose to fight her head on.

The bald man gave her more trouble than the others. 

While she knocked one of his companions out with a solid kick to the stomach, he kept trying to land punches whenever he saw an opening. But Aurora read his movements, dodged his attacks, and struck back—repeatedly hitting the same spot on his face, even while fending off the other attackers.

Aurora, seeing that only two were left, stopped holding back. She delivered a hard punch to the bald man's face, knocking him out cold.

The remaining woman had been silently watching Aurora the entire time. 

Aurora had no idea what this woman's fighting skills were like—she hadn't stepped in to help her teammates at all during the fight.

Aurora, her grayish-blue hair soaked with sweat, locked eyes with the woman. 

The woman laughed. "Can you really take me on in a head on fight?"

Aurora responded by flipping her off.

The woman snickered, but before anything else could happen, a hex nut—solid, metal, and roughly 20mm wide—came flying past Aurora and struck the woman square in the face with a sharp crack.

Aurora hadn't seen it coming. It was so fast that even the woman in front of her couldn't react in time.

The impact knocked the woman off balance. She dropped to one knee, one hand clutching her face.

The woman muttered, "…!"

"This is unfair! Throwing random stuff out of nowhere—and you called us cowards!"

Aurora stood silently, unbothered

She really had the nerve to say that, when they literally had more people on their side?

At first, Aurora assumed the quiet woman was the final boss—the one hiding her power until the right moment. But she didn't expect her to be… dramatic.

Sora, seeing the woman get hit square in the face, cheered from the sidelines. "Aurora! What are you doing just standing there? Get her!" But in her excitement, Sora stumbled into the table. 

She lost her balance—her body still weak and unsteady from the lingering effects of the pheromones earlier.

Aurora glanced back at the woman, shocked to see blood trickling down her face. 

That throw—whatever it was—had definitely hurt like hell.

Not wasting a second, Aurora darted forward and kicked the woman hard in the face. 

The woman let out a low groan, then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"…?"

Aurora blinked. She'd been expecting some kind of final confrontation or dramatic twist. 

That was it?

She turned her head and saw Sora, who was now half slumped over the table, face first.

"…Seriously?" 

Might as well help her out. 

There could still be traces of the pheromone in the air.

She began looking around for a remote or controller and eventually found one—wedged into the corner of the couch, partially hidden between the cushions.

Aurora switched on the air filter system to clear out the pheromones. 

She'd smelled cedar earlier, but couldn't tell if it had come from the scent markers or just the room itself.

Turning back to Sora—who now looked like she was trying to bite the edge of the table. 

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Warning

story may include sensitive scenes that could be frustrating or stressful for some readers. If you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed, I kindly suggest stepping back from the story—your well being is always more important