Chapter 26

Just hold on a little longer. There’s a bit of time after this lecture before the next one, so if I go to the hospital then…

“Ugh.”

A dull throb. My heart suddenly started pounding like crazy. The abnormally rapid heartbeat echoed throughout my whole body.

I tried to exhale, but it felt like my throat was clenched shut, making even that difficult. My body started trembling, and uncontrollable convulsions hit. The skin on the back of my hand quivered slightly. In the middle of the pain, something started to rise up—it was a feather. A black, gleaming feather tore through my skin and grew out.

Clatter! My chair was roughly pushed back. All eyes instantly turned toward me.

“Dabi?”

I barely heard someone calling my name. Why, why is this happening? Other than the pain, I hadn’t felt any emotional disturbance. But my body was transforming against my will.

This shouldn’t be happening… My mind was in complete chaos. First, I needed to get out of the lecture hall.

It wasn’t a conscious decision—it was instinct. I rushed to the door and ran.

At that moment—crack, snap. There was a twisting, breaking sound from my back. Even walking hurt. My legs gave out slightly. My hands were shaking, and my vision began to blur.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone. My fingers wouldn’t move properly, and I struggled to dial the number.

I barely managed to call the driver.

“Come to the front gate right now! Hurry!”

My voice was almost a scream.

I felt like I was about to fully transform. I clenched my teeth and struggled to hold on to my sanity.

The heat spreading through my body and the sharp pain felt like they were about to swallow me whole. Just then, a black sedan slid to a stop in front of me. As soon as I heard the door open, I threw myself into the car, not even stopping to catch my breath.

“Are you alright?”

“C-Call Wei Chen…”

“I already did.”

Even the scenery flying past the window didn’t register clearly. Sweat trickled from my forehead to my chin. It felt like my body was losing all self-control. The heat rose to my throat, like it was about to burn everything.

As soon as we arrived at Wei Chen’s house, I ran up to the second floor without even taking off my shoes. As I climbed the stairs, one wing burst out and flapped from my shoulder blade.

Feathers scattered across the floor with each step. It felt like molten lava was flowing deep inside me.

“Haa, ha…”

To stay sane, I needed his scent. I grabbed the blanket and buried my nose in it. I tried desperately to find his scent. But the heat didn’t go down at all. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like my lungs were on fire. I couldn’t endure it anymore.

Like I was in a trance, I headed for Wei Chen’s bedroom. Thankfully, the door wasn’t locked. I stepped inside and made my way to his dressing room. I threw open the massive wardrobe and clutched at his clothes, grabbing anything I could reach.

I wanted to feel his presence more closely.

I was gasping for breath. I felt like I was going to die. The heat spreading from inside was dulling all my senses. Even with my face buried in his clothes, even as I breathed in his strong scent—it was no use.

Wei Chen… where are you?
Something’s wrong with my body.

* * *

It felt like the searing heat boiling up inside me was melting every muscle and bone in my body. My throat was swollen, and even breathing properly became difficult.

My consciousness kept cutting out, only to return little by little, pulled back by the scent of Wei Chen clinging to the clothes.

I wasn’t exaggerating—it really felt like I might die just like this.

Xuan had said it, hadn’t he? That the side effects could make you explode.

This had to be it. This had to be that side effect.

I knew it instinctively. I was reaching my limit. Was my body going to explode? Honestly, I hoped nothing would be left behind.

Better than being discovered as some monster with black wings growing out of my back. Better that nothing, nothing at all remained…

Just as I was about to lose consciousness again—

I heard movement from outside. Heavy footsteps pounding across the floor, a sharp voice edged with anger. Then, the sound of a door opening.

I forced my eyes open, but everything was so dark I couldn’t see a thing. I slowly closed them again and slumped on top of his clothes, my fingertips barely twitching to grab onto the fabric.

And then, with a soft beep, I could feel light pouring in past my closed eyelids.

Through the blurred mix of heat and tears clouding my vision, a large figure approached. As I tracked it with my eyes, something cold suddenly touched the nape of my neck, and I recoiled instinctively, curling in on myself.

“Han Dabi.”

His voice—right by my ear, exactly the one I’d been waiting for.

I hurriedly lifted my face from where it had been buried in the clothes and turned toward him. Something cold gently stroked my cheek this time. It was cold enough to send chills down my spine as it brushed my cheek, slid across my eyes, my forehead, and then back to my cheek.

My hazy, dimmed vision slowly started to clear.

“…Wei Chen?”

“Yeah.”

“My body, it’s…”

“I know.”

Something in the way he spoke—calm, steady, like he already understood—gave me a strange sense of relief. He didn’t panic or overreact, just nodded gently, and that alone helped ease the panic that had filled my chest.

But that didn’t mean the heat burning inside me was going away. Please, do something. His cold hands gently touching my searing cheek and ear felt unbelievably good. It wasn’t that he was cold—it was that I was burning up.

“Haa…”

A breath that felt like I might actually live escaped my lips. I didn’t know why he was here when he should’ve been in Hong Kong. No—right now, that didn’t matter. I grabbed both his hands and pressed them to my cheeks and lips. Each time his scent reached the tip of my nose, it felt like the blood pounding through my veins was calming down.

More. I need more.

I reached out without thinking and clung to him. The feeling of his solid body supporting me was comforting.

I gripped the fabric of his clothes tightly and buried my face into him. There was a faint trace of the outside air on him—he must’ve come straight to me the moment he arrived.

I tugged down his shirt and buried my face even deeper. The coolness of his skin against the tip of my nose was bliss, and I inhaled. The faint smell of smoke mixed with that familiar scent that only came from him surged deep into my lungs and made the area under my ribs burn warmly.

“Wei Chen… haa… Wei Chen…”

“Yeah, I’m right here.”

Haah, huu… it was strange.

Just moments ago, his body heat had been calming the fire inside me, but now, somehow, it was only making it worse. The more I clung to him and rubbed against him, the harder it was to endure the heat. My breathing became shallow. I wrapped my arms around him and gasped.

Cough, cough. My rough breathing turned into a coughing fit, and he gently rubbed my back as if to soothe me.

“Breathe slowly.”

I clung to him like I would die if I let go. And then—whoosh—my body was lifted. I felt dizzy, lightheaded, but I bit down hard, refusing to let go of him.

Click. I heard the sound of a door opening. A moment later, something soft touched my back. His bed.

Wei Chen gently pulled my arms from around his neck.

“No, don’t—don’t go.”

I flailed in a panic, and he lightly pressed down on both my wrists with one hand. Why? Why are you pushing me away? It hurt. I felt like I’d die without him. Like my body would burst open. If Baekwoon, the group you belong to, hadn’t created this terrible drug, I wouldn’t be going through this.

The emotions rising up in my chest made my eyes sting. I looked at his face, dimly lit by the orange ambient light, and it was darkened with frustration.

“This is driving me insane.”

He muttered like he didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t—sniff—don’t hate me. I’m hurting too.”

It hurt so much I could barely speak. Tears welled up as I opened my drowsy eyes wide, and they slid down along my temples. One of my wings fluttered slightly forward from my back. Black feathers scattered around Wei Chen.

“Do you know what your eyes look like right now?”

His voice was low, darker than the surrounding darkness, and it slipped into my ears like honey.

I didn’t care what my eyes looked like. That didn’t matter. All I wanted was to hold Wei Chen close, to bury myself deep in his arms and breathe him in. That was the only thing I wanted. I needed him—desperately.