The hospital was quiet. Josh was standing with several other security guards in an empty hallway. Chase was lying in the hospital room, and the only people with him were his manager, Laura, and the head of security. All other personnel were ordered to wait in the hallway.
During the rush to the hospital, Chase never opened his eyes. He completely lost consciousness, and even his breathing was faint, so much so that it seemed as if he had just died. Of course, that wasn't true. Josh prepared his mind and even brought a portable defibrillator so that he could perform a heart massage at any time. While he was riding next to him in the car, many thoughts were floating around in his head. But what was most strongly imprinted on his brain was the bright blood staining every part of Chase's body.
Thinking that he might suffocate from vomiting blood, Josh placed his head on his thigh and did not forget to hold his head turned to one side with his hand. Fortunately, he did not vomit blood again while he was unconscious. The problem was that he just didn't open his eyes the whole time.
They barely arrived at the hospital and immediately took Chase to the emergency room. Despite doctors swarming around him and performing all sorts of tests, Chase still remained unresponsive.
Josh cursed inwardly at himself for constantly having ominous thoughts, but his thoughts continued unabated. Chase's bloodless face kept flashing before his eyes. The same was true for the bright blood that dyed his entire body.
Oh my god, maybe all the blood in his body has come out.
Phew.
Josh placed a hand on his forehead with a sigh and then realized that he was walking away. It's okay, the doctors will do something, he consoled himself again and repeated the same words to himself. He's in the hospital, so he's okay. He'll be okay, he'll come to his senses soon.
Soon.
"Josh."
He was startled by the sound of being calling and raised his head to find Mark looking at him. A hint of concern appeared on his frowning face. Mark asked Josh, who blinked blankly.
"Are you tired? Were you very surprised?"
"Huh? Oh...no, a little." He tried to deny it, but ended up stuttering. Mark frowned as if he knew that would happen and then opened his mouth.
"For you to react like this, C must have been amazing. But Laura said that a few people recited it and that they might need trauma therapy."
It was rare for the general public to see someone bleeding and collapsing like that in real life, and not in a movie. And since he collapsed without any warning and was covered in blood, it was understandable that he was talking about trauma.
But Josh's case was different. He was a soldier before he became a bodyguard, and he witnessed quite a few disgusting and miserable situations. Although he felt sorry, it was impossible for him to be surprised or panic because there was blood flowing before his eyes. It was ingrained in Josh that he should always kept his head cool in any situation. Even if he didn't try to keep his cool, he was trained to immediately exclude his emotions and move his body when such a situation arised.
However.
Josh looked down at his hands again. At first glance, there seemed to be no problem, but as he focused his gaze, he could see the slight tremor of his hands. As soon as he opened it and closed them, a chill ran down his spine.
"Is he still unconscious?"
When he asked instead of answering, Mark looked back at the door of the hospital room and nodded his head.
"Yeah, maybe they will tell right away if something changes."
As he said, there was no sign of anything coming from inside the door. At least if Chase had opened his eyes, Laura would have called the medic right away, but the fact that it was still so quiet meant that his condition was still the same.
Afterwards, Josh let out a deep sigh. Time continued to pass in ominous silence, with the closed door of the hospital room showing no sign of opening.
***
It was more than half a day later when Chase regained consciousness. In the meantime, the bodyguards slept or rested at a hotel near the hospital that Laura had arranged for, but Josh, who had no choice but to leave his post due to a shift change, fell into a deep sleep, but when he received a call in the early morning, he quickly got up and headed to the hospital.
"Josh." Laura also greeted Josh with a tired face, as if she had received a call from him while she was resting.
"I know you should be resting so I'm sorry. Mr. Miller called me and even though I told him you were off duty, he wouldn't listen. I think Mr. Miller relies a lot on Josh."
"It's okay." Josh gave a simple answer to the puzzled reaction. More than that, right now he wanted to meet Chase first.
Fortunately, Laura seemed to have made her own guess as to why Chase was looking for Josh and came to her own conclusion. Their conversation alone in Steward's office was a major turning point. After that, she would walk away without any suspicion even when they spent time alone together or when Chase called Josh. Anyway, this misunderstanding was welcome. Josh didn't bother to correct it.
As he walked away, and Laura, who had led him into the hospital room, stood at his door and opened her mouth.
"I contacted Steward, and he said there are limited doctors who can consult about these symptoms. He said he would like you to come and check it out as soon as possible. Mr. Miller said he would make a decision after meeting Josh first."
Josh furrowed his eyebrows but raised his hand without saying anything. Laura just stared at him in silence until he knocked on the door twice in time with his beat and then opened it. A moment later, as he entered his hospital room, she whispered softly just before the door closed.
"He'll have to get ready to go to the hospital."
"At a time like this?" Josh asked in surprise.
It was already past midnight and they offered to check him up. On the one hand, it was a good thing, but on the other hand, he felt uneasy again. Laura answered indifferently.
"Steward often stays up all night in the lab there, and other people besides Mr. Miller often get emergency medical check-ups."
He was probably talking about extreme alphas.
Josh couldn't help but nod and then close the door. Before he turned his back, a scent greeted him. As he slowly turned his head, feeling the sweet scent of pheromones enveloping his body, he immediately saw him lying on the bed.
The moonlight coming through the large glass window revealed Chase's bloodless face. Josh's heart sank for a moment. The sight of him covered in blood filled his vision.
Has he ever been this scared?
Josh stood there and couldn't move. Even when he passed through a dangerous zone with landmines, he was not as nervous as he was then. For the first time, he became aware of his fear of losing someone. At the same time, he also knew what Chase meant to him.
Before he could react properly to the unfamiliar sensation, Chase suddenly moved his body.
Ah.
The closed eyelids slowly lifted, and the pupils hidden beneath them were slowly revealed. The purple eyes became even darker, almost black. Josh just watched in silence as he frowned and blinked a few times to focus.
"Joshua." A quieter voice than usual came out of Chase's dry lips. The hoarse voice made Josh's heart ache even more.
Josh cleared his throat and then walked over to the bed. Chase just stared at Josh without moving.
Josh finally stopped and looked down at Chase. A pale face without any blood was facing him. Josh swallowed with difficulty, feeling his mouth go dry. He hesitantly lifted his hand and brought it to Chase's cheek, opening his mouth.
"Chase."
"What did you do with Laura?"
'Are you okay?' The words he was about to ask were immediately interrupted by a voice calling out. Josh realized too late that Chase, who spoke in a cracked voice, had bloodshot eyes.
"...What?"
"You two talked. Don't lie, I saw it all."
Before he could finish his sentence, Chase began coughing. Startled, Josh quickly looked around. As he was moving his body in search of water, Chase suddenly caught him. Josh turned his head reflexively and found Chase coughing violently and grabbing his wrist with incredible strength. Even as he continued to cough violently, as if he was going to vomit blood again, his grip on his hand was so tight that it made his wrist go numb did not weaken at all.
"I was just trying to bring you water," Josh said, but Chase couldn't respond due to his coughing.
His answer was clear enough from his unraveling hand. He squeezed so hard that the blood stopped flowing and his hands lost any feeling. Eventually, Josh turned around again and sat down on the edge of the bed. Only after he was sure he wouldn't leave him did Chase relax his grip. That didn't mean he let Josh go, but his deathly glare softened a little. Josh saw that and smiled bitterly.
"It hurts," he lightly reprimanded him, lowered his head, and kissed him on the lips. There seemed to be a faint smell of medicine along with a sweet pheromone scent. Josh asked, still pressing his lips together out of pity.
"Are you okay? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"
Then he added in a deliberately playful way.
"I'm sure you didn't spit up blood because you were jealous of Laura and me."
Chase said nothing. However, he only strengthened the hand holding Josh's wrist again. Josh inadvertently furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I'm just kidding," as he opened his lips.
"If you're jealous of everyone I deal with just because we're talking about work, and you bleed every time, you'll end up a corpse sooner or later."
Josh lifted his wrist and kissed the back of Chase's hand, who was holding him so hard that his joints could spring apart. Josh added mischievously, looking at him with his lips pressed together and his gaze lowered.
"If you die, I won't be able to bother you anymore, is that okay? Even if Pete gets a new daddy or mommy."
Josh quickly corrected himself when he saw Chase immediately go white and widen his eyes. "I'm just kidding. So I'm telling you not to get sick."
Chase was still pale and just looked at Josh with wide eyes and disbelief. If he left it as was, he felt like he would vomit blood and pass out again. Even so, it made no sense to say that that happened because of jealousy.
"You heard what I said, right? You have to go see Steward."
Josh quickly changed his tone and asked seriously.
"If you don't want to see me talking to anyone, you need to get healthy quickly and find out what the cause is."
"...It's not a big deal," Chase continued stubbornly, his voice cracking.
However, his voice was so hoarse and subdued that it was difficult to hear, and his face was even paler than before. It felt like something was really going to happen if that continued.
"Unless you know the cause, you have no choice but to see Steward."
Josh was also reluctant to deal with him, but as Laura said, he was the only one who could look after Chase's current condition. Chase also seemed to know that he was no longer in a state to be stubborn, so he kept his mouth shut. Josh brushed the disheveled hair from his forehead as if to comfort him. He looked down for a moment at his exposed straight forehead and felt an impulse.
He kissed right there.
"It'll be okay. We're going to check it out."
In response to Josh's comfort, Chase said nothing and put his hand behind his neck and pulled him closer. It wasn't until their lips met that Josh realized that Chase was nervous.
"I will be by your side, Chase." Josh kissed his lips with a pout before pressing his forehead against his. "I will never leave. So don't worry."
Still, Chase's expression did not change. If he left the hospital room like that, Chase would be left alone again. He was anxious without Josh, who was not in front of him, imagining all kinds of things, and was in a state of anxiety that made him feel like he was going crazy.
Josh, who was quietly looking at him, opened his mouth.
"Chase, would you like me to engrave a mark?"
Chase's eyes widened at those words. Even so, Josh felt both pity and love at the same time as his big eyes widened several times, and for a moment he didn't know what kind of expression to make. He continued speaking quietly.
"If I mark you, I will no longer be able to mark anyone else for the rest of my life. Until either you or I die."
After a pause, Josh added mischievously.
"What do you think? Does that make you feel more at ease?"
Chase, who had not responded until then, opened his mouth.
"...Is that okay?"
Josh smiled wryly at the look of disbelief.
"Originally, I wanted to do it after getting married, but there is nothing I can do about it. There are many ways to hide it, such as makeup. Actors who are marked alphas or omegas do that when they are filming, right? Even if we plan to get married slowly, it would be better after filming is over. Because work comes first."
Chase asked, still looking mesmerized. "But is it okay to mark me?"
Josh shrugged. "It's very troublesome if you vomit blood every time I talk to someone."
Chase didn't speak for a while. He didn't even blink, he just looked at Josh. But Josh could clearly see that his purple eyes were slowly turning darker. Chase opened his mouth but made no sound. Only after kissing his lips a few more times did he finally speak.
"...I love you, Joshua."
After saying that in a cracked, hoarse voice, Chase closed his mouth. But that was enough for him. Josh tilted his head and kissed his lips.
"I love you too, Chase Miller."
His heart was racing so much that he wanted to jump on top of Chase, but he clenched his fists and held them back. Instead, he parted his lips and smiled softly.
"Let's engrave it as soon as we get back from meeting Steward."
What will happen if I carve a mark on Chase's ear? For a moment, the reactions of the members and staff came to mind, but he could think about it slowly. Josh felt embarrassed because it felt like he was making a public declaration.
Firstly, they had to talk to Laura and Mark. Because they really needed to know it.
As soon as Josh got up from the bed, Chase tightened the hand holding his wrist, but this time, unlike before, Chase soon let go of Josh. Just then a knock was heard. He was waiting for Laura to let them know that everything was ready.
Josh leaned down and kissed him on the lips again. Then Chase let go of his hand and turned around, silently watching Josh leave the hospital room. Josh looked back one last time and smiled. Chase also smiled, but still had a puzzled expression on his face. Feeling unbearable loveliness, Josh quickly left the hospital room. He thought that if he had hesitated a little longer he might have actually pounced on Chase on the hospital bed.