Confined Pheromone

Sanho’s scream erupted. Soon after, there were thuds, thuds, dull sounds that followed. It was clear that Sanho, who had rushed down the stairs to grab me, had stumbled. The sound of him rolling down the stairs was quite horrific. And then came the sickening thud. That sound was even worse.

“…!”

Siwoo stopped in his tracks and hurriedly looked up. He saw Sanho’s wrist jutting out through the gap in the twisted stairs. The sickening thud was the sound of his head hitting hard as he rolled down the stairs. For a moment, Siwoo froze, unable to move. If he had seriously injured his head, leaving him like that would be dangerous. Sanho might be in danger.

“Damn…!”

Biting his lip tightly, Siwoo turned his body and began to ascend the stairs. He thought it was madness. This was the only chance to escape. If Sanho could no longer come after me, even more so. But, but if Sanho was seriously hurt… He moved his legs even more urgently than when he had descended the stairs.

“Sanho!”

He noticed a pool of red blood beginning to gather around Sanho’s head, sprawled across the edge of the stairs. His heart sank. Siwoo hurriedly approached and felt Sanho’s nape, which was cold. There was a faint pulse. In that moment, a wave of relief washed over him, accompanied by a paralyzing fear. What should he do…? If he had a head injury, he shouldn’t move him carelessly. But he couldn’t just leave him like this either. Ultimately, as Siwoo leaned in to pick up Sanho, Sanho’s eyes, which had been closed, fluttered open slightly.

“…Senior.”

It was a faint but clear pronunciation. Just as Siwoo was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry, Senior. I deceived you too.”

A crackling sound echoed, and a piercing pain shot through the back of his neck. It was the second time he felt pain.

“I had to catch you, so I deliberately fell.”

With Sanho’s whispering voice, Siwoo’s eyes began to close.

***

How many times had it been? Losing consciousness and then waking up again like this.

When Siwoo opened his eyes, this time it wasn’t on a bed. It was on a wide sofa. He felt a weight on his shoulder as he sank deeply into the sofa. Turning his head, he saw Sanho leaning against him, eyes closed. The forehead resting on his shoulder was hot, and the soft sound of his breathing was rough.

“Sanho…!”

He tried to move his body urgently but hesitated. On the table in front of the sofa lay a blood-soaked towel and emergency supplies. Iodine, small pieces of cotton, tweezers, ointment, and gauze. Seeing a couple of the cotton balls stained with red iodine, it seemed he had been given first aid. Siwoo slowly looked down at his own feet.

“…….”

When he had mindlessly rushed down the stairs, he had scraped his bare feet, which were unshod. It wasn’t a deep cut, but there were quite a few scratches. Seeing the gauze applied to the wounds, it was clear that Sanho had treated his feet. Meanwhile, he himself…

“Sanho.”

Meanwhile, he, who had injured his head, had only carelessly wiped away the blood covering his face.

Sanho’s face, stained with blood in places, looked paler than usual. His heart thudded heavily. A strange sensation spread from somewhere in his heart, quickly engulfing Siwoo. It bore the face of anger and resembled pain at a glance.

Siwoo slowly embraced Sanho’s head. Noticing blood on the side of his face, it seemed that the area near his temple was slightly torn. As Siwoo carefully touched the wound, Sanho let out a thin whimper and frowned.

“…Senior… you’re awake….”

“Are you out of your mind?”

An emotion resembling pain burst forth like a flood. Siwoo’s voice was louder than he intended. Startled by the loud voice, Sanho furrowed his brows deeply and looked up at Siwoo.

“My head hurts. Don’t shout.”

Siwoo let out a breath of disbelief. As Sanho straightened his body, which had been leaning against Siwoo, he slowly blinked his eyes.

“What about your feet? Are they okay?”

It was absurd that someone who had bled profusely from a head injury was worrying about just a few scratches. Siwoo jumped up.

“You’re hurt, you…!”

“Oh, this is fine.”

Sanho reached out and grabbed the already blood-soaked towel. Then he pressed the towel against the area near his temple. Although he winced slightly in pain, he wore an expression as if it didn’t matter. While carelessly pressing his own wound, Sanho looked at Siwoo.

“It was just a little torn. It’s nothing serious—.”

“…Ha.”

As Siwoo sighed, Sanho quietly closed his mouth. More than his own injury, he looked more bewildered by Siwoo’s reaction. Siwoo bit his lip and knelt down on both knees in front of Sanho. He reached out nervously. He soaked a cotton ball on the table with iodine. Sanho stared intently at Siwoo’s hands.

“If your head is seriously injured, what are you going to do…?”

He opened his mouth in a low voice but soon let out a regretful breath and fell silent. Siwoo brought the iodine-soaked cotton ball to Sanho’s wound with tweezers. Sanho slowly lowered the hand that had been gripping the towel. His fingertips trembled slightly.

“If you bled this much, it’s actually a good sign. The really dangerous thing is when there’s no bleeding—.”

“How can it be okay when you bled this much?”

As the antiseptic thoroughly covered the wound, Siwoo squeezed out some ointment. The ointment on Siwoo’s fingertips was carefully rubbed onto Sanho’s wound. Sanho flinched and bit his lip.

“It’s nothing—.”

“Stay still.”

Finally, after applying all the medicine, Siwoo placed gauze over the wound, and only then did Sanho release his bitten lip. The imprint of his teeth was clearly visible on his plump lips. It was evident that he had been in a lot of pain while pretending to be fine. Siwoo narrowed his eyes and gently rubbed Sanho’s lower lip, which bore the bite mark.

“If you were trying to make me angry by trapping me, you succeeded.”

Sanho lifted his head and faced Siwoo directly.

“……Why?”

“Are you really asking that because you don’t know—?”

“Yes, I don’t know. You’ve never told me first.”

Sanho’s voice rose slightly. Watching Siwoo treat his wounds, the resentment that had been small began to swell.

“Why are you angry? Tell me.”

“……Because you got hurt.”

Ha, Sanho let out a hollow laugh at Siwoo’s answer.

“Why are you angry when I’m the one who got hurt?”

Siwoo remained silent.

Sanho was right. And his own words were also correct. He was definitely angry. Very much so. It was an emotion he didn’t even know who it was directed at. But why? Was it because Sanho had hurt himself to trap him again? That was both true and false. The order of cause and effect had reversed. It wasn’t that he was angry because Sanho had deceived him to trap him again. It was that he was angry because this kid had harmed himself to keep him from escaping.

“Senior….”

“…….”

“If it were someone else, you would have done the same for them.”

“…….”

“Because you’re kind, always gentle to everyone.”

“…….”

“So you’re always like this to others too….”

Sanho’s eyes twisted mercilessly.

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“Sanho.”

“I’m the crazy one who trapped you. So why are you being nice? Why are you treating my wounds, why are you angry that I got hurt, why?”

Siwoo sank down, kneeling in front of Sanho. He didn’t know what to say. Why was he angry? Why did Sanho getting hurt make him so angry? Siwoo couldn’t find an answer to his own feelings.

“Maybe I should have killed you instead of trapping you.”

The answer lies within Siwoo’s lost memories. Siwoo knew that much, if nothing else. The answer to this feeling, the answer to Sanho’s contradictory actions, was in Siwoo’s memories.

“You… can’t kill me.”

“…….”

“You don’t want me to get hurt either. You can’t stand that either.”

“…….”

“Sanho, let me go.”

Siwoo gently grasped Sanho’s trembling hand. Sanho slowly looked up at Siwoo.

“You won’t find your memories here. Once you go out….”

For a while, Sanho stared at Siwoo in silence. He still wanted to wipe away the bloodstains on his face and the tears that were dampening the corners of his eyes. He didn’t know why. Finally, Sanho opened his mouth.

“…Do you really want to go out that badly?”

“If I find my memories—.”

“Do you want to run away from me again?”

“……Sanho.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sanho roughly pushed away Siwoo’s hand, which was warmly covering his.

“No. This time, I can’t let you go. Sending you away with my own hands was the last time.”