Main Character of a Dating Reality Show C13

Chapter 13

His mind went blank—white as an empty page—then instantly tangled into chaos.

How does he know?

No—does he really know? Or is he just fishing?

As his fingertips began to tremble, Gyeol clenched his fist tight. He forced himself not to avert his gaze, fighting to withstand that relentless stare.

Could it be that he had been caught using his phone in the bathroom? No, that couldn’t be. And if that were the case, then that itself would be a problem—because installing a camera in the bathroom would be…

“I can practically hear your brain spinning from here.”

And this pheromone. The pheromone he had encountered earlier today. Could it be that—

“Go on, think harder. With that tiny head of yours, no matter how much you think, there won’t be much you can gain anyway.”

The owner of the fifth pheromone—the catfish who had sent him a card and rendered his body completely defenseless—

Sung Yohan?

“I don’t know what you’re talking abou—”

“The name. Go Yul.”

The moment his child’s name was spoken, it felt as though Gyeol’s heart had been ripped out and slammed onto the ground.

“Six years old. Areumdawn Daycare. Whale Class.”

An image flashed through his mind: Yul running fast with a yellow daycare backpack bouncing on his back, then turning around from afar, calling out brightly, ‘Dad!’

“Still going to deny it?”

Like an explosion, Gyeol shoved Sung Yohan with all his strength, both hands pushing hard against his chest. This was not a moment where reason could prevail. Means and methods. Objectivity. All of it evaporated.

But Sung Yohan didn’t budge. With a faint chuckle, he merely grabbed Gyeol’s arm again. Thrashing against him, Gyeol snarled low.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“So this is your true face, huh.”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“It’s refreshing that you’ve finally stopped that pathetic acting, but you might want to lower your voice. The staff are swarming just beyond this point. Planning to advertise?”

“Fuck.”

The curse slipped out as Gyeol struggled to break free of his grip. It was useless. The moment Gyeol twisted his body, Sung Yohan—who had briefly loosened his hold—casually seized his arm again.

“Ever heard of metacognition? You’re lacking in that department. If you’d realized your position earlier and bent over backward playing nice, I wouldn’t have had to spell all this out.”

“How do you know? What are you planning? Don’t tell me you’re going to—Yul—!”

“I have no intention of touching the kid.”

Sung Yohan replied curtly, then yanked him closer. Gyeol wanted to resist, but he was powerless, collapsing helplessly into Sung Yohan’s arms.

Pheromones enveloped him.

The sensation of being crushed.

Then, as if granting mercy, Sung Yohan looked down at him with a smile on that impossibly beautiful face.

A chill ran down Gyeol’s spine. Just seeing his face made it feel as though reason was being forcibly driven back into his mind. His entire body began to tremble again—pure instinct.

This man is dangerous.

“Good. That’s it. Stay still.”

“…What do you want?”

Barely managing to speak, Gyeol bit down on his lip in fear.

At that moment, clouds covered the moon, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

Looking up at those gleaming eyes in the dark, Gyeol felt his breath constrict.

If it were only him who fell, he wouldn’t care.

But—

“What do I want, you ask?”

He had to prevent harm from coming to the child. That alone was unacceptable.

Gyeol becoming an issue-maker was one thing—but Yul must never be dragged into it. In a world where digging into someone’s personal life had become a joke, it would be far too easy to uncover who Gyeol’s child was, where he lived, which daycare he attended—everything.

There was a way to reveal the truth here and now. But since Sung Yohan already believed Yul to be Gyeol’s son, there was a strong chance he wouldn’t believe him even if he explained everything.

More than that, Gyeol didn’t want to take even the smallest risk when it came to Yul. A single careless word could be twisted into fake news or tabloid trash. He wanted no one to know anything related to Yul.

Yul knew him as his father. Gyeol didn’t want to confuse the child. He wanted to protect that belief—at least until Yul became an adult.

“Please… just say something…!”

Unable to bear the heavy silence, he opened his mouth again—only for a soft, yielding pressure to crash against his lips.

Gyeol’s eyes flew open. Instinctively trying to push him away, he froze when a hand wrapped around his waist, pinning him down as if to remind him of his place.

After rubbing insistently against his lips a few times, Sung Yohan pried them apart, a warm, slick presence pushing inside. Suppressing the urge to bite down on that tongue, Gyeol squeezed his eyes shut.

Hot breath scattered over his saliva-wet lips. He hated it. He hated it so much it made his skin crawl. When the tongue invaded deeper, rubbing against the inside, a sound almost slipped out. His brain slowly melted as his temperature spiked sharply.

Then, noise erupted from beyond the hill.

All movement stopped.

Pulling away, Sung Yohan calmly swept his thumb over Gyeol’s lips, wiping away the saliva.

Gently gripping both of Gyeol’s shoulders, he whispered near his ear.

“Curious why I’m doing this? What I want?”

“……”

“That’s something you should figure out yourself, Go Gyeol.”

At last, he was released from Sung Yohan’s grasp. As the moonlight shone brightly once more, Gyeol could see his face clearly.

True to his name, Sung Yohan was impossibly aloof—gazing down at something base from a great height, beautiful beyond anything human.

“Look forward to it,” he said softly. “What comes next.”

He didn’t know how he made it back to the lodgings.

Unable to steady his racing heart, Gyeol ran blindly, only managing to compose himself once the cameras came into view.

Fortunately, Yoon I-soo wasn’t there. Gyeol headed straight into the bathroom. With trembling hands, he pulled out his phone and powered it on—only to stop himself before checking on Yul.

It would be better not to do anything reckless.

Stepping into the shower booth, he didn’t even undress—he just let cold water pour over him.

For a long time.

Until his startled chest, pounding heart, and the heat stoked by Alpha pheromones finally subsided.

“Fuck…”

He splashed his face with cold water several times, but the heat refused to calm. Down below was undeniably soaked, sticky beyond denial.

He hated it. Truly hated it.

But there was no choice.

Outside the bathroom were nothing but cameras. Yoon I-soo would return soon. No matter what it took, he had to quell the heat pooling below and leave the bathroom.

With violently shaking hands, Gyeol unfastened his pants. Thud. He stripped off his underwear and let it fall to the floor, bracing one hand against the wall.

Once he found a stable stance, he reached down.

“Haa…”

Just as expected, his hand came away slick with viscous fluid. After moving his hand for a while amid ragged breaths, Gyeol suddenly slammed his forehead against the bathroom tiles.

“…Ugh!”

Of all the horrible things about this—

The worst was that even at the final moment, Sung Yohan’s face had surfaced in his mind.

Claiming he felt under the weather, Gyeol crawled into bed early.

Yet hours passed without sleep coming.

In a situation like that… to go into heat like some stupid kid…

Damn Omega. He raked his hands through his hair repeatedly, scrubbing his face dry.

How does he know about Yul? How? Since when?

No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find an answer.

Judging from the card… tomorrow, for sure…

That was why he was afraid of tomorrow.

Day Three dawned.

Despite barely sleeping until very late, his body woke early. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to rise. In the end, Gyeol pretended to sleep, curled beneath the covers until well past ten.

It was around eleven when he arrived at the lounge, having prepared himself enough to face the cameras. Everyone else was already gathered.

Yoon I-soo spotted him first and gestured to the seat beside him.

“Hyung, are you okay? You look tired.”

Concerned voices followed, drawing several gazes his way.

Gyeol waved them off, shaking his head.

“I’m fine.”

“Really? Are you sick, Gyeol-ssi?”

Omega Kang Heejun leaned forward to inspect his face. Behind him, Choi Seon and Shin Joon-oh also looked on, waiting.

“I had some body aches yesterday, but I’m really fine now.”

“Oh no. Then you shouldn’t push yourself today.”

Gyeol nodded lightly, picked up a banana, and barely ate it. The cast chatted cheerfully, but Gyeol’s mind was elsewhere.

Sung Yohan was nowhere to be seen.

He glanced around the staff repeatedly, but no matter how he looked, Sung Yohan wasn’t there.

• All participants, please change into swimwear and gather at the beach.

At the announcement, everyone rose to their feet. Clutching his restless chest, Gyeol followed behind them.

• Day Three on Pheromone Island.
• Today, we will conduct the Alpha “Death Save Match.”
• The reward is an Ivory Mansion Date Ticket.

“Finally, the Ivory Mansion appears.”

“Wow!”

Cheers erupted among the cast.

The Alphas, shirts off and muscles bared, lined up at the starting line, each steeling their resolve.

• The Alphas participating in today’s game—
• are not four, but five.

“Huh? What?”

“I think I know. Isn’t it the catfish?”

“No way. Really? At this timing?”

The Omegas reacted with excitement. Their responses looked genuinely unaware.

A heavy tension seized Gyeol.

“He’s coming from over there!”

All eyes turned in one direction.

“Uh…?”

“W—wait, what?”

Gasps spilled from both Alphas and Omegas alike.

“….”

Holding his breath, Gyeol watched the fifth Alpha appear.

Under the blazing sun, a figure with broad shoulders and sculpted muscles stepped forward. Light pooled along the contours of his body, emphasizing its flawless form.

His proportions were so perfect they seemed beyond human—like the divine ideal ancient sculptors once sought to capture.

Sunlight caught on a high bridge of a nose, eyes gleaming vividly beneath deep-set sockets.

Suppressing the urge to flee, Gyeol looked straight at him.

• The fifth Alpha: Sung Yohan.