The man who was left to deal with his reaction to the lingering scent and Mr. Kim's belongings, stood in the hallway for a few minutes more after the two hurried off. 

He was still in a daze, with the sweet scent seemingly swirling around him, the scent wasn't as strong after Mr. Kim left. But, it was still just as alluring, he felt that he could tell what it reminded him of if only he could smell it a little bit more. Just a little bit more. 

The man shook his head as if to get rid of his wandering thoughts and brushed his hair back before picking up the things left behind.

 Although he had to do something with the suit jacket and briefcase that was left behind he didn't want to bring it into the office as it would most likely be embarrassing to Mr. Kim. So he left it at the reception desk, where an employee who couldn't sense pheromones was working.

***

Mr. Kim slowly opened his eyes, not knowing where he was, all he remembered was fuzzy memories of clinging to someone. Someone important, who smelt of freshly baked croissants. His...His boss. 

When Mr. Kim remembered who he was clinging onto, he felt fully awake. And his body felt neither feverish or full of aches like it was in the morning. 

It looked around, realizing that he was in a hospital bed with an IV drip being administered into the bend of his arm. 

He was confused as to how he got here from work as he couldn't remember who dragged him off.

Before he could try to remember what exactly happened, a nurse opened the door, 

"Mr. Kim Junho?"

As the door opened, there was a slight floral scent coming into the room mixing with the clean smell that is usual in hospitals. It was like the nurse was wearing a faint smelling floral perfume.

"ye-yes?"

The nurse walked to the bed carrying a clipboard, they checked the IV bag and looked back at Junho, "how are you feeling?"

"I-I'm fine?" he answered as if he was asking a question himself.

"We administered heat suppressants and a fever reducer. It seems like you caught a cold just when your heat came."

The nurse kept going on about Junho's condition and why he was in the hospital.

Junho stared at the nurse, wondering what they were talking about, 

"Excuse me, what's a heat suppressant?" he asked. 

The nurse looked a little surprised, "Mr. Kim, were you unaware that you're an omega?" they asked.

Junho suddenly got nervous, wondering if this was some type of condition that he didn't know about, "excuse me, wha-what's an omega?"

The nurse wrote something onto the clipboard that they had been holding onto and flashed a business-like smile, "it's okay, I'll be right back."

They promptly left the room and seemingly dashed down the hallway, leaving Junho to question if something was seriously wrong with his body. 

He went over every healthy habit it had, or rather, the lack of them.

Scrolling through his phone before bed and when he wakes up, drinking coffee five times a day and eating four slices of cake when he goes to a cafe, skipping breakfast and having instant food for lunch and dinner. The more he thought about it, the longer the list got.

When he thought about the way he ate in college till now, he realized that him becoming sick was more reasonable than he thought. And although he's still young, he also factored in his age and decided that being sick was probably going to happen one day. 

*** 

A few moments later, the nurse came back and with them was a doctor. 

When the nurse came back into the room, so did the faint floral scent, but along with it was a soothing smell. It was like clothes that were washed with a fabric softener and freshly came out of the dryer. 

The doctor was wearing a long white coat, which was what Mr. Kim assumed the scent was coming from, a part of him wanted to ask what kind of fabric softener he used. 

Mr. Kim straightened his back as the two walked towards the bed because although he had decided he wouldn't be too surprised if he was seriously ill, he was still feeling nervous.

"Good afternoon Mr. Kim," the doctor said in a friendly voice.

"I'm Dr. Lee," he introduced himself.

"I-I'm Mr. Kim Junho," even Junho knew that the doctor had already known his name but he still wanted to return his greeting. 

Dr. Lee stared at Junho with a gentle expression.
And as if asking a child, “Mr. Kim, do you know what pheromones are?”

Junho wasn’t quite sure what he meant when he said pheromones, so he made his best guess,

“Like fragrances?” He said. 

The nurse who was simply listening looked at Dr. Lee as if wondering what he’d say next.

Dr. Lee took a breath before speaking again, “have you noticed scents recently? Things like flowers, fruits, grass, pine, or anything similar?”

Junho took a moment to think, it wasn’t as if his sense of smell had suddenly started working so he didn’t know how to approach this question. 

The doctor noticed the hesitation to answer the question and so he changed it, “when nurse Sung came into the room, did you notice faint scent of any kind?”

“Yeah, It seemed like he was wearing perfume,” Junho answered quickly. 

The doctor flashed a gentle smile, and yet again with a tone as if talking to a child, “Mr. Kim, that scent you noticed wasn’t perfume, it was pheromones. Every omega and alpha has them and it’s unique to each individual.” 

As Dr. Lee explained things that Junho didn’t know was something he should know, it only made more questions he wanted to ask. 

He remembered how the nurse had mentioned an “omega” earlier, but still he was slightly too nervous to ask what the terms omega and alpha meant. 

Because he wasn’t interrupted with any questions, Dr. Lee continued talking, “Mr. Kim, have you felt like you have today? With a high fever, body aches, and other symptoms.”

“Wh-when I was sick,” Junho answered.

“Mr. Kim, when you came here we treated you for heat and a cold, were you unaware that you’re an omega?”

Yet again, the doctor said words that Junho didn’t know the meaning of, he nervously spoke, “I-I don’t know what that is.”

The doctor’s eyebrows raised a little, as if he was surprised, but he managed to maintain the gentle look on his face.

He turned back to look at nurse Sung, who promptly gave him the clipboard that he was holding. 

Dr. Lee took a piece of paper that was on the clipboard and handed it to Junho, “this here explains what omegas and alphas are.” 

After the doctor handed Mr. Kim the pamphlet, nurse Sung quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

It was a pamphlet that seemed to be written for kids, it explained in easy to understand terms what an omega and alpha were. Mr. Kim focused on the omega information since that was the word it kept hearing from the nurse and doctor. 

Omegas release pheromones from the back of their neck, these pheromones carry a scent that only other omegas and alphas are able to sense. Each omega has their own unique scent to their pheromones, although an omega can sense their own pheromones they will only be able to sense it faintly. 

The only time in which an alpha or omega will respond to an omega scent is in the following events:

- The omega is on their heat 

- The alpha is on their rut 

- The omega or alpha has feelings for another omega or alpha  

Other than these times, omega pheromones should only produce a scent which doesn’t carry any effects.

In addition to pheromones, omegas go into heat once a month, which with heat suppressants should only last for three days. Without, a heat period can last between seven to ten days. During this time the chance of pregnancy increases- 

As nurse Sung came back, carrying another IV fluid bag, Mr. Kim stopped reading the pamphlet. He was starting to understand if only just a little bit, however the last three words washed away any understanding he had.

Dr. Lee was still standing by the bed as Junho was reading. He looked at his perplexed expression and decided that it was time to start asking questions again.

“Mr. Kim, have you had a fall recently? Or any bumps to the head?” 

“I don’t think so,”

“Mr. Kim, we see that you’ve been prescribed omega heat suppressants since high school. Do you remember this?”

“N-no, I don’t.”
There was a break from the questions, and with a gentle voice Dr. Lee continued, “Mr. Kim, did someone hurt you in any way?”

Dr. Lee looked at Junho, as if wanting to read his expression instead of just hearing his answer to the question. 

Junho didn’t fully understand why he was being asked all of these things, but he still answered, “no.”

Dr. Lee stared at Junho for a few seconds more, “I think we should run a few tests to make sure. Your loss of memory is a little concerning Mr. Kim, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you, so don’t worry.” 

“o-okay”

Although it’s easy to say you won’t worry, it’s difficult for one’s mind to do so. 

Before the two finally left the room, nurse Sung made sure to mention “we’ve informed your work of your absence.” As he replaced the empty IV bag with a full one.

And with that, Mr. Kim was left on the hospital bed, the IV bag replaced with more heat suppressants and the pamphlet lying on top the bed covers saying that he’s an omega.