Dirty Switch

Unilateral imprinting?

Still curled up with his forehead pressed to his knees, Joo Taehyun only shifted his eyes slightly. He didn’t want to hear anything—but if Dr. Woo was bringing up such an unfamiliar term in a situation like this, there had to be a reason.
“Oh, our young master.”
Even though he must’ve looked awful, eyes rolling up to show the whites, Dr. Woo only found the fact that Taehyun reacted at all to be endearing, and he gently stroked the back of his head.

Though Dr. Woo was in charge of the health of the entire direct line of the DH Group, he held a special affection for the youngest son who had once teetered between life and death from a developmental heat right after birth and had grown up so resiliently. Likewise, Taehyun didn’t just see him as a personal physician, but as a close family elder.
“You said you only took one dose of the Switch that Director Seo recommended, right?”
The moment the word Switch was mentioned, Taehyun buried his head even deeper and mumbled excuses in a small voice.

“...I swear, it’s true. I figured the effects would wear off in an hour or so, so I just tried the one bottle. Really.”
He knew he was acting more childishly than he had even as a child, but at this point, there was no way he could maintain the image of “mature Joo Taehyun”—the one Seo Baekhan had once praised.
He wished he’d just passed out. Every time fragments of yesterday resurfaced in his memory, he wanted to bite his tongue off.

The way he’d whined, begging for Baekhan in a tone that didn’t suit him at all. How he’d mistaken a real person for a hallucination and babbled nonsense. The discomfort and displeasure clearly written on Baekhan’s face despite everything...
Taehyun felt wronged, too. He’d only taken the Switch once—so why had his body reacted that way?
“I don’t care who you rolled around with in the U.S. or what kind of Switch you picked up. Up until now, it wasn’t a problem. But that won’t fly anymore. Jejungwon isn’t Donghwa Hospital.”

He’d said he’d personally check the test results this time, so there was no way Taehyun could secretly dump the pills like before.
Wouldn’t it be better to just not touch Switch at all, like before? Then the test results would come out clean—just like Baekhan wanted. He clung to that optimistic thought, trying to mentally patch up all the little lies he’d told until now.
But this time, the lie wouldn’t come out so easily. Because Taehyun knew how much that test at Jejungwon meant to Seo Baekhan.

He’d already lied to Baekhan countless times—big and small. This marriage itself was a sandcastle built on deception.
And now, if he suddenly came clean—said he’d never taken Switch, never slept with anyone, not even another Alpha... Said the test would come out clean anyway...
The thought alone made the back of his neck prickle. Baekhan wouldn’t just hate him—it would be over. He’d carve Taehyun out of his life cleanly, without hesitation.

He should’ve confessed earlier. Should’ve just told the truth right after the wedding—that he hadn’t touched Switch since then...
Regret came crashing in like a tidal wave. But it was far too late. The lie he’d told out of childish desperation had long since spiraled beyond repair.
So Taehyun had closed his eyes and swallowed the Switch Baekhan gave him. He’d thought it would just burn for an hour and be done—like it had before. The pill had been chosen by top doctors in Seoul, including Dr. Woo, all of whom unanimously agreed there was no risk.
And indeed, Baekhan’s Switch was different in many ways from the cheap Dirty Switch he’d bought in Washington. There was no whispering voice in his ear, no explosive fireworks popping before his eyes, no ticklish, aphrodisiac-like sensations.

Baekhan’s pill was straightforward. As it flowed through his bloodstream, all it did was compel his body to seek out the traces of an Alpha who might fill him with their seed.
Like seeing your own breath in the cold air, Baekhan’s pheromones became vividly apparent. Without realizing it, Taehyun wandered all around the house, searching for the faintest traces of Baekhan’s scent.
By the time he remembered they had plans, the heat had just barely begun to fade—but he still wasn’t okay. He was so humiliated he wanted to die, hiding away alone in the guest room with both his front and back soaked through.

And yet, now...
“This is still just a hypothesis, but... I believe you’ve imprinted on him unilaterally, young master.”
“...What?”

Taehyun was biting his lip, ruminating on how to cover up the disgrace he’d shown at Yeonhwagung, when Dr. Woo dropped a statement that made no sense at all.
“Unilateral imprinting?”
“I mean that you’ve imprinted on Director Seo—”

“No, I know what imprinting is. But how is that... how’s that even possible? I’m an Alpha, and so is he...”
It was an absurd, impossible statement that dragged Taehyun out of the pit of his shame and threw him straight into cold, hard reality.
“You’re right—so far, research has only confirmed imprinting between opposing secondary genders.”

Everything related to secondary gender biology remained a frustrating mystery, and imprinting was one of the strangest phenomena of all.
By standard definition, imprinting referred to the process by which an Alpha and an Omega—having spent a long time together and become acclimated to each other’s pheromones—ended up permanently bound to each other.
It happened when one became so desperate for the other’s pheromones that their heartbeat surged out of control, and even their own pheromones could no longer be regulated.

It was a phenomenon where the body effectively branded each individual gene with “It has to be this person,” to the point where exposure to another secondary gender’s pheromones caused overwhelming, almost suicidal pain. An extremely intense pheromonal malfunction, in other words.
“Isn’t there still ongoing research about whether imprinting can occur between individuals of the same gender? I thought Baekhan mentioned that before...”
To the general public, imprinting seemed romantic—so much so that it was commonly used in drama plots these days. But for actual trait-holders, the concept was anything but pleasant.

There was no clear explanation for how or when it occurred—and if the imprinting partner left, or worse, died unexpectedly?
No one really knew what would happen next.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. That’s why I said it was just a theory. But I believe the issue began when you took the Switch, young master.”

“But, Doctor—”
“You know Switch temporarily tricks your body, right? It convinces your system that you’re an Omega, not an Alpha. And during that time, you were constantly living in a space saturated with Director Seo’s pheromones. That’s probably when it happened.”
Ah...

So what, I liked Seo Baekhan so much, that the moment my body felt like an Omega... I just went ahead and imprinted on him? All on my own?
“Hah... haha...”
Taehyun’s limbs went slack without him realizing it. Everything about himself repulsed him to the core.

He’d never felt so utterly disgusting while harboring feelings for Seo Baekhan.
What the hell was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t even lie anymore and say he had no feelings for Baekhan. He’d imprinted. Alone. On Baekhan.
He couldn’t fake having a partner now. Couldn’t even pretend he was still using Switch properly.

If Baekhan found out I still liked him—what then...?
“Director Seo said he didn’t notice any sign of your pheromones going wild, but that could be explained by the imprinting. Your pheromones wouldn’t have affected him negatively, since he’s your imprint target.”
“So even though I did it all on my own, my imprint still had an effect on him? No, wait. That’s not what’s important right now... Doctor, what happens next?”

Taehyun crawled over on his knees and grabbed Dr. Woo’s arm.
“How am I supposed to tell him I unilaterally imprinted on him? He’s probably already disappointed in me after everything that happened. What do I even—”
“...Don’t worry. I won’t tell Director Seo. Thankfully, unilateral imprinting doesn’t have the same strength or permanence as mutual imprinting. There ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) are cases where it faded quickly.”

But even as he said that, Dr. Woo sighed quietly. The moment he did, the flicker of relief that had sparked in Taehyun’s face vanished again.
“Why...?”
“This is something I already explained to Director Seo before you woke up, but... I believe you’ll need regular pheromonal interaction with him for the time being.”

“Pheromonal interaction? What’s that?”
“It means you’ll need to have regular sexual contact with Director Seo.”