Aoto

I wake up to the sound of my smartphone ringing insistently. I blink a couple of times, confused, as I don’t recognize my surroundings at all—I’m lying on a super comfortable bed in a fancy, modern bedroom. I assume I’m in a five-star hotel because the air doesn’t feel homey.

Where am I? How did I end up here?

I sit upright, only to realize I’m completely naked, my skin sticky and sweaty. Pain suddenly hits me everywhere—mostly in my hips, lower back, and, well, where the sun doesn’t shine. My hands trail down my bare chest, and my eyes widen as my mouth falls open. Bite marks and hickeys cover me everywhere.

“What the hell? What happened? What did I do to get like this? Who did this to me?” I gasp, my voice low.

Flashes of vague memories flood my mind—Yu-jun kissing me wildly, whispering sweet nothings in my ear, moaning my name as we lost ourselves in each other’s embrace. His beautiful eyes darkened whenever I murmured that I wanted him to keep going. His strong pheromones, a mix of lemon and lavender, overwhelmed my senses as he held me close, entangling our bodies again and again.

Blushing scarlet, I glance at the other side of the bed, my gaze locking on Yu-jun, who sleeps peacefully. He’s butt naked, and it feels like I’m witnessing the world’s greatest creation. Just as I imagined, his abs are ridiculously well-defined, giving me yet another reason to ogle him.

“How can someone be this perfect?” I mumble, brushing a strand of hair from his face. “Even his eyelashes are perfect,” I add, mesmerized by their long, beautiful curves.

“Hmmm…” Yu-jun hums, turning his face to the other side without waking up.

“I can’t believe I spent my first heat with Yu-jun Yoon.” I giggle softly. My cheeks burn as relief and happiness spread through me. He knew it was me in his arms.

My smartphone pings, snapping me back to reality. 

My parents and brother must be worried sick.

“Wait, what day is it?” I frown, grabbing my phone. “Is it Saturday morning? The day after my birthday?” My eyes widen in panic. “Shoot. I need to study for the university entrance exams.”

I jump out of bed, only to fall straight to my knees as soon as my feet hit the floor. “Ouch! My lower back hurts,” I cry, wincing.

It takes me a moment, but I manage to stand on my shaky legs and drag myself to the en-suite bathroom. After a quick shower, I put on my clothes and return to the bedroom, unsure what to do. Should I wake Yu-jun to let him know I’m leaving and thank him for helping me during my heat? Or should I let him sleep? In the end, I choose the latter—I don’t want to disturb him.

“Bye, Yu-jun,” I whisper, slowly opening the door.

As I step into the living room—this must be a VIP suite, judging by its size and luxury—I hear a faint stir from the bed behind me.

“Are you leaving?” Yu-jun asks as I turn to face him.

I give him a broad smile and reply, “Yes, I am. You can go back to sleep, and we’ll talk later.”

Without lifting his head from the pillow, he smiles back. “Okay.”

I spin on my heels and motion to step out.

“Hey, thank you for letting me embrace you again. I’ve never stopped loving you and longing for you and your heart, Sota,” he remarks, his voice raspy yet cheerful.

I freeze in place, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. The realization that he just called me by my brother’s name and confessed his love for him—probably due to his sleepy state—crushes me entirely. The hopes I’d started cultivating when I woke up half an hour ago are crushed. My eyes well up instantly, and I rush out of the bedroom and VIP suite as fast as possible, ignoring the startled looks from hotel staff and guests as I run to the elevator and out of the building.

By the time I reach a taxi, I’m weeping uncontrollably, full-on heartbroken. Millions of thoughts race through my mind as I struggle to accept reality—the only reason Yu-jun embraced me was because of my brother. I was nothing but a replacement. He must have pictured me as Sota the entire time. The fact that his true feelings slipped out while he was half-asleep confirms everything, leaving no room for doubt.

It’s unbelievable how drastically my emotions have shifted in thirty minutes—thirty fucking minutes. I’ve gone from feeling like the luckiest Omega in the world to the most humiliated and dejected one.

“Apologies for intruding, but are you okay?” the taxi driver asks, his reflection in the rearview mirror showing genuine concern for my disheveled state.

I let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. “I lost my virginity to my brother’s ex-boyfriend, who thought I was him.”

“Oh… That sucks,” he says, glancing at me when we stop at a traffic light. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

I shake my head. “No. Just let me cry until we reach the destination.”

He nods silently, his occasional worried glances giving me the space to wallow in my misery and emotional—and physical—pain.

“At least my heat is gone, and he didn’t mark me,” I murmur, unconsciously touching the back of my neck. “He also didn’t knot me—did he?” Alarms go off in my head as I try to recall whether Yu-jun knotted me, along with what I learned in school about it. From what I remember, when an Alpha knots an Omega, the Alpha’s ‘mushroom’ swells inside the Omega’s ‘cave,’ making it impossible to pull out for thirty minutes to a couple of hours. It’s meant to increase the chances of pregnancy significantly. Some say it’s instinctual, while others believe it only happens when the couple is bonded and deeply connected.

No, Yu-jun would never knot me. We’re neither bonded nor close, so the chances of him knotting me are zero… right? I’m right. Yes, I’m right. He didn’t knot me.

“We’ve arrived,” the driver informs me, stopping the car in front of my apartment complex.

“Thank you,” I say, paying him and stepping out.

“Hey, I hope you’ll be all right.” He gives me a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah…” I trail off, closing the door and heading toward the building’s entrance.

As soon as I step into the lobby, my brother, Mom, and Dad rush toward me out of nowhere, startling the shit out of me.

“Aoto,” they exclaim in unison, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Are you okay?” Dad asks, turning me around as his eyes scan every inch of me. His face twists with rage when he spots the bite and hickey marks scattered across my neck and arms. “Who’s the bastard that left these on you? I’ll kill him with my own hands,” he growls, the veins on his forehead bulging.

“Who’s the Alpha you were with for the last three nights?” Sota glares at me, his tone sharp and his expression deeply disturbed.

Flabbergasted, I gasp, “The last three nights? Isn’t today Saturday morning?”

“It’s already Monday,” Mom clarifies, gently patting my head. “Is your body hurting? Your dad and I are taking you to the hospital after breakfast.”

It’s Monday morning? Does that mean I spent three whole nights being embraced by Yu-jun nonstop like… two animals? Wait—how does my family even know I was with an Alpha?

“How did you know I was with an Alpha?” Though I muster the courage to ask, my voice wavers with hesitation and dread.

“You sent me a text Friday night that said, ‘I’m at a hotel with an Alpha. You don’t have to worry about me,’” Dad replies, his anger palpable. “I asked who you were with, but you didn’t even read my messages; not to mention, you’re reeking of an Alpha’s pheromones,” he adds in a scolding tone.

“I sent you a text? How come I don’t remember that?” I mutter, running a hand through my messy hair. “Most of my memories are fuzzy…” I sigh. “Can we talk about this later? I just want to eat something and rest.”

“What about the hospital?” Mom presses, concern etched on his face.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine,” I insist, stepping into the elevator.

“You need to tell us who the Alpha is, Aoto,” Sota demands, his frustration evident. “You can’t just disappear for the weekend, stay at a hotel with some stranger, and act like everything’s okay.” For some reason, when the word stranger leaves his mouth, something in his gaze unsettles me—it’s as if he knows the so-called stranger wasn’t a stranger at all.

I close my eyes as the elevator ascends, dread pooling in my stomach. How the hell am I supposed to tell my dear older brother that the Alpha in question was his ex-boyfriend? How do I explain that Yu-jun thought I was him?

What if Sota already knows the truth because of Yu-jun’s pheromones on me? He must have recognized them by now.

“Aoto, you must tell us what happened,” Mom urges again.

I purse my lips, wrestling with my shame, and only after sliding onto the living room sofa do I finally blurt out, “The Alpha was Yu-jun Yoon.”

A long, uncomfortable silence fills the room as my family gapes at me.

“Yu-jun Yoon? My ex, Yu-jun Yoon? The heir to the Yoon Group?” Sota stares at me, his expression a mix of disbelief and pain. “I suspected it was an Alpha I knew because the pheromones felt familiar, but I never imagined it would be…”

More tears stream down my face as I nod and confirm, “Yes. Your ex, Yu-jun Yoon.”

Dad sits beside me, his voice low but firm as he inquires, “How did that happen?”

“I met him Friday night on my way home from my birthday dinner with Kenzo and Junko. His pheromones triggered my heat.” I pause, wiping away my incessant tears with trembling hands. “I don’t remember much after that. When I woke up in a fancy hotel this morning, he was asleep beside me, but…” My voice falters as I glance at Sota.

“But what?” Dad hisses, his teeth clenched. “Did Yu-jun do or say something to hurt you? Did he force himself on you?”

“No, everything that happened was consensual, I think…” I rush to defend the man who doesn’t deserve it, the last two words coming out almost inaudible.

“Then what? Why are you shaking so much? What are you afraid to tell us?” Sota’s gaze pierces through me like a knife.

I take a deep breath before stating, “I’m pretty sure that Yu-jun thought I was you, Sota. He called me by your name when I was leaving the suite, and he also confessed that he’s still in love with you and has been waiting for you since you two broke up.”

Dad, now radiating his powerful pheromones that smell like barbecue—hmmm… barbecue—curls his hands into fists and curses, “That son of a bi—”

“Sweetheart, watch your manners in front of the kids,” Mom interrupts, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “You know we don’t curse in front of them.”

“I know we don’t, but Yu-jun, that motherfuc—”

“Kairo Kikuchi,” Mom calls out, angry.

Dad flinches under his wife’s thunderous voice, shutting his mouth, and his pheromones dissipate.

“I can’t believe Yu-jun still loves me,” Sota remarks in disbelief, sitting on the other sofa.

“Ao, please tell me Yu-jun used protection,” Mom pleads, approaching me.

I recoil, letting my head hang low, shame weighing heavily. I mumble, “I-I don’t remember…”

“Yu-jun was probably in rut if his perception of reality was distorted to the point that he mistook Aoto for Sota. His instincts would’ve taken over, which means he didn’t care about using protection,” Dad concludes, likely speaking from his own experiences as an Alpha. “If my assumptions are correct, he wanted to impregnate Aoto at all costs.”

“But even if Aoto was in heat and Yu-jun was in rut, the chances of Aoto getting pregnant without being knotted are almost zero,” Mom points out, distressed.

“But what if Yu-jun knotted Aoto? The possibility is big if he thought he was Sota,” Dad retorts, his expression mirroring Mom’s.

Sota, whose pheromones—which smell like fried chicken, by the way—are as intense and intimidating as Dad’s were a minute ago, observes, “But why would Yu-jun mistake Aoto for me? I’m not an Omega, and the difference must have been obvious during their time together.”

“Do you think you would notice that while out of your mind and overcome with your instincts during your rut?” Dad gives him a pointed look.

Sota doesn’t reply.

Mom forces me to stand and pulls me into a comforting, motherly hug. As he rocks me back and forth, he assures me, “No matter the consequences of your first heat, you’ll be fine because your dad, brother, and I will always be here for you, supporting and loving you unconditionally.”

I burst into tears on his shoulders, thankful that although heartbroken, I’m not alone and everything will be all right.

Nothing will happen because my weekend with Yu-jun was a once-in-a-lifetime stupid mistake… right?

* * *