<h4>Chapter 171: UNSTABLE PHEROMONES</h4>


    <i>AH, the room is suddenly filled with Sihyuk Hyung’s pheromones.</i>


    Garam was surprised, not because of the Alpha’s scent, but because he wasn’t supposed to smell them.


    <i>The medicine I’m taking is supposed to help me return to being a Beta.</i>


    And, honestly, he hadn’t been able to smell pheromones recently.


    Ah!


    Garam realized that he had smelled Song Sihyuk’s pheromones earlier— when the Alpha was fighting with his uncle.


    <i>I didn’t realize because I was worried about Gunwoo back then.</i>


    "What’s wrong, Garam-ah?" Song Sihyuk asked worriedly. "Did my confession shock you—"


    "I can smell your pheromones, Hyung."


    "Huh?"


    "I’m not supposed to smell pheromones anymore, but I smelled yours," Garam said awkwardly. He didn’t expect to have that kind of talk with Song Sihyuk, after all. But he also thought it was something that he shouldn’t hide from the Alpha. "Did the Cho Triplets give you a defective medicine?"


    "That can’t be," Song Sihyuk said, but even he didn’t sound convinced. "Can you smell other people’s pheromones aside from me?"


    "No, only yours, Hyung."


    "Oh. We should call Seong Kyungmin, then."


    "Can we do thatter?" Garam said, sitting on the edge of the bed carefully as to not awaken Gunwoo. "I’m tired, Hyung. I want to rest in the meantime."


    "Of course. We can even just call Seong Kyungmin over."


    "That’s too troublesome for Dr. Seong."


    "And that’s why I pay him handsomely."


    Garam couldn’t argue with that.


    <i>Plus, Dr. Seong is an adult. If he can’t make it due to his other job, then he won’te.</i>


    "When should we call Seong Kyungmin?"


    "I wanna go home first, Hyung," Garam said. "I don’t feelfortable here at Grandfather’s house. Plus, your rtives are scary."


    "Then I’ll drive you and Gunwoo home."


    "I want to go to my house this time, not your parents’ house."


    "But I already moved out of my parents’ house, so you won’t be ufortable, Garam-ah. I’d like it if you stayed with my parents a little longer. At least, until the issue with the inheritance is sorted."


    "I don’t want our son to get used to living in your parents’ house now that he has started school, Hyung. If you’re worried about our safety, don’t be. I’ll ask Geon Hyung and Junho Hyung to live with us again. Geon Hyung is my bodyguard, anyway."


    As expected, Song Sihyuk didn’t look happy.


    "Hyung, you can just send extra bodyguards for Gunwoo— I won’tin if it’s for the safety of our son."


    Song Sihyuk fell silent for a moment, and then he nodded in the end. "I get it."


    Garam should have known that Song Sihyuk had a different idea.


    <strong>***</strong>


    "DAD, is this our new house?"


    "Yes, baby," Garam said, smiling while watching Gunwoo run around the living room. "It’s not as big as your grandparents’ house, but it’s not bad, right? We also have a garden here, so we can have a barbecue partyter."


    "Yehey, I love barbecue!" Gunwoo said, and then he carried Baby Jina. "Jina-ya, Oppa will feed you something yummyter!"


    Jina’s face beamed. "Yummy! Meat!"


    "Yeah, meat is yummy!"


    Pfft.


    <i>Jina is 3 while Gunwoo is 5. There’s only a two-year gap between them, but Gunwoo already looks like he’s in elementary school while Jina looks so small. So, he can carry Jina like that like she weighed nothing.</i>


    And it probably didn’t help that Jina was smaller than toddlers her age.


    Even so...


    "Be careful, baby," Garam reminded his son. "Don’t drop Jina."


    "I won’t, Dad!"


    Even so, Garam was relieved to see Shin Geon silently following the kids when Gunwoo walked to the garden to y with Jina.


    "Junho Hyung, thank you foring with us here."


    "It’s not something you should thank us for, Garam-ah," Shin Junho said while shaking his head. "We are your staff, and you pay us well."


    Pfft.


    Garamughed because it was obvious that Shin Junho was only joking.


    <i>I mean, it’s true that they are my staff members. Geon Hyung is mine and Gunwoo’s bodyguard, while Junho Hyung is my aide. But we’ve been together for so long that I know they chose to stay with us because they see us as family.</i>


    "Garam-ah, are you sure you’re not sick anymore?" Shin Junho asked worriedly. "You sleep a lot these days."


    "Oh, it’s only because I was tired from the funeral, Hyung."


    To be fair, trying to hide from the reporters during the funeral was the most tiring part.


    Of course, it was resolved easily because of how tight the security was.


    But even the Song n couldn’tpletely cut off the reporters since the death of the founder of the SG Group was important to the country.


    <i>Fortunately, the reporters didn’t catch me.</i>


    "Oppa, you should rest, then," Mija said worriedly. "Take the wild ginseng that I found in the mountains."


    Yes, Mija also decided to continue living with them.


    <i>I can’t decide if Mija is like a little sister to me, or a daughter.</i>


    "Thank you, Mija-ya," Garam said, pausing for a moment before asking: "You received a hefty inheritance from thete chairman, Mija-ya. Do you need help in managing your wealth? We can hire a professional."


    After all, Mija was still a child.


    <i>Plus, it doesn’t look like she’s interested in money.</i>


    "I was supposed to use the money to rebuild our temple, but thete chairman already took care of it," Mija exined, shrugging. "To be honest, I’m thinking of declining the inheritance. The tax is too much."


    "My Alpha father will help you with the inheritance tax, Mija-ya."


    "Even so, I’m still thinking of donating the money. I don’t need that much to live anyway. My life is already secured as long as I serve the Song n well."


    Whew.


    Fortunately, Mija wasn’t power-hungry.


    <i>And I hope the child stays that way.</i>


    "Alright," Garam said. "But let me know if you need help, Mija-ya. I know you can rely on the Songs. But if you want my help, don’t hesitate toe to me."


    Mija just nodded, and then she changed the topic. "Oppa, I thought you were going to the hospital with Sihyuk Ahjussi?"


    "Both Dr. Seong Kyungmin and Dr. Seong Jungho are in a conference in New York right now. They’ll be back next week."


    Seong Kyungmin actually offered to skip the conference to check on Garam.


    But he told the doctor that his condition wasn’t an emergency.


    <i>They are in that conference to learn more about pheromones between an Alpha and Omega pair with a strong bond, so I’m hoping they’ll learn something about mine and Sihyuk Hyung’s case.</i>


    "Are you alright, Oppa?" Mija asked worriedly. "Sihyuk Ahjussi is being suspiciously quiet these days. I don’t see anything bad happening soon, but I’m surprised Sihyuk Ahjussi didn’t stop you and Gunwoo from leaving his parents’ house."


    "Sihyuk Hyung tried, but he didn’t insist," Garam said, shrugging. "Maybe Sihyuk Hyung is finally learning how to not act clingy."


    <strong>***</strong>


    <i>"I’M BACK, Garam-ssi. Let’s schedule your appointment tomorrow."</i>


    Oh.


    That was the text that Garam had received from Dr. Seong Kyungmin.


    <i>I should tell Sihyuk Hyung.</i>


    Yeah, that was what he was supposed to do, but he hesitated.


    <i>Sihyuk Hyung hasn’t contacted me for a whole week now.</i>


    Thest time Garam talked to Song Sihyuk was when he asked if he and Gunwoo had settled in their new house properly.


    After that, it was radio silence from the Alpha.


    Hyung said he can’t afford to lose me, and yet he suddenly ghosted me?


    It was annoying.


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    Garam was annoyed with himself for being annoyed in the first ce.


    <i>I should feel relieved!</i>


    He was about to throw his phone, but he was surprised when the home inte suddenly rang.


    <i>Aigooya!</i>


    Garam was alone in the house at the moment because Shin Geon picked up Gunwoo from school while Shin Junho picked up Jina from daycare.


    Mija, on the other hand, went out to run a personal errand.


    He was feeling under the weather this morning, so he couldn’t pick up his son.


    Anyway, Garam stood up and checked the inte attached to the wall.


    And, much to his shock...


    <i>Sihyuk Hyung?!</i>


    <strong>***</strong>


    GARAM had just talked to Song Sihyuk in the inte earlier.


    But he was still surprised when he opened the gate and found the Alpha really standing before him.


    <i>Hyung is really here...</i>


    "Why are you the one opening the gate?" Song Sihyuk asked, frowning. "Do you not have a household staff here?"


    "Everyone is out at the moment, Hyung."


    "What? You’re alone here? Aigooya. Should I send a team of household staff members here, Garam-ah?"


    "No need for that, Hyung," Garam said, furrowing his brows. "What are you doing here?"


    "I’m here to give you rice cakes," Song Sihyuk said, handing Garam a fancy paper bag that contained fancy rice cakes. "Here."


    "What is this for, Hyung?"


    "I was told you usually hand rice cakes to your neighbors when you move."


    "Huh?"


    "I just moved in next door," Song Sihyuk said, smiling. "We’re neighbors now, Garam-ah."


    Garam’s eyes widened in shock. "Excuse me?"


    "I bought the house next door."


    Aigooya.


    "The paperwork took longer than I expected. I didn’t want to jinx it, so I kept it a secret from you," Song Sihyuk exined, even though Garam didn’t ask for an exnation. "But everything is settled now."


    Garam could only blink rapidly in disbelief.


    <i>No wonder Sihyuk Hyung has been quiet these days!</i>


    <i><strong>***</strong></i>


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