His body is limp in my hands.
His parted lips have lost their color, just like his now pale face. His eyelids don't flutter with movement neither does his chest rise or fall with signs of breathing.
This should be it.
I win.
I didn't even have to try, and yet here he is, my long-time rival, the main rival of my entire existence is lying dead in my arms.
I should put his body down and call my father to let him know. To let him know that I am a worthy son, the perfect heir of the Choi clan.
I should call my mother and let her know that we have won. To let her to put an end to every wedding plan they are making for Yunah.
I should leave him here and walk the door like a victor to celebrate my effortless win, but I don't.
Instead I stay in the deathly silent room holding Jaehyun. The only thing I can hear above my own ragged breathing is the sound blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding rapidly.
"Fuck…" I curse and prop him up as best as I can with my trembling arms, ignoring the way my muscles spasm from the strain of the rough day. I hold him up, hoping that there is still a chance for him.
The poison is usually strong but not strong enough to completely take a man down within hours. I know Jaehyun is a lot more stronger than that.
"Yah, Hwang Jaehyun" I call his name and shake his body. "Please…" I plead with him as I press my ear to his chest, I hold my breath to make sure I don't miss anything and then I hear it- I hear his heart beating faintly, weak but still there.
"This motherfucker" I say with a strange rush of happiness, "you won't die easily, you don't get to die until I kill you myself" I say to his unconscious body and lay him back down to perform a CPR on him. I press my hand to his chest thrice like I have seen them do in my clan's training room.
With each press, his body jerks but he doesn't respond. I hold his head up and leaning to press my lips to his, giving him my breath in hope of getting him back to life. "Please" I murmur before doing it again, this time around I breathe twice into his mouth and his lips open against mine with he gasp.
Overwhelmed by the happiness of his response, I stay still with my forehead pressed against him, still breathing into his mouth- needing him to take as much of my breath as possible.
He lets out a deep breath and his eyes flutters open, "what are you…" he asks, he looks confused as the color slowly returns to his face. Jaehyun blinks and looks around the room, as if he's looking for something.
"What are you doing here?" he asks with a raspy voice, "Yujun, my hero, thank you for saving my life would suffice" I say sarcastically, and I let my body sag in relief next to him, relaxing my nerves for the first time in days.
"My mother was here?" Jaehyun asks with a wince, and I nod, "He left a few minutes ago" I mutter. "I can smell him" he says gently before sitting up to rest his back against the headboard. The room is quiet as he looks me over with a look I can't decipher.
"Why?" I growl at him, uncomfortable with the way he is staring at me…it feels like the minutes before we kissed earlier this night. "Thank you, Choi Yujun," he says softly, and I divert my eyes from him to the floor.
I still don't get this man. I can't make any sense of Hwang Jaehyun. Yes, I understand why he is kind and protective about omegas now but I don't understand why he is being so vulnerable with me…doesn't he realize what we are?
"Watch it Jaehyun-ssi" I say under my breath, "I am still a Choi, and the attack might have been from me" I say, looking at the hard floor. "I can bet my life that the attack wasn't from you Yujun-ah, you are not like them" he says with a lazy smile, wearing a duller version of his usual smug expression on his face.
"What makes you so-" my words are put to a stop as Jaehyun speaks over me. "No one in your position would risk their exposure for an enemy" he says and pauses for a second, "look at you" he says softly and his eyes slowly roams my body and the room suddenly feels warmer.
"You're covered in my blood from protecting me" he murmurs and my cheeks burn with his words and gaze- my omega is pleased with the recognition of our effort.
Jaehyun's alpha eyes flash red as my scent intensifies with sweetness, and he puts his head down to hide them. "I don't know what you think this is, but we are enemies" I say, trying to sound firm as best as I can but my voice betrays me and wavers.
"You're not my enemy Jun-ah" Jaehyun says and tilts his head to the side with a wince, "Don't be stupid…you and I know what this is…we're only using each other" I argue stubbornly, "I know you are using me to destroy my family…" I say.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asks, I blink in confusion as he laughs gently and turns his head to the side to look outside the window. Here in this place, in his vulnerability Jaehyun looks handsome. A different beauty from the madness I saw on his face over an hour ago.
"I see what the so-called family you suffer for puts you through, Yujun-ah" he says softly and I stand up abruptly in defense for my family. I growl at him but he keeps talking, "you can choose to believe me or not, Yujun-ah. I hate your clan and everything they represent, but you…you're something different" he says.
"I'm not using you Junnah" he says softly, "I want you to use me" he says and my breath hitches.
"Use me like a drug."
Hwang Jaehyun has lost his fucking mind.