Chapter 45 - Cohabitation

When I opened the door, a refreshing gush of outside air brushed past my body instead of the still, sweet air. Unfortunately, Keith was already there and seated. For a moment, my mind was taken away by the sight of him staring at his laptop screen while sipping on some black tea. I gulped. From here on, this would repeat itself every day. My mind would be taken by him, and I would stare at him unknowingly, breathing deeply time after time to chase after the remnants of his pheromones.

However, I would never make a mistake. Just like I had until now, I had the confidence to perfectly hide myself daily as long as my hormones didn’t get drunk on pheromones and go wild. As proof, I smiled my usual formal smile at Keith, who had looked up.

“Good morning,” I greeted him normally.

All the while, I felt my consciousness drift away at the sight of the sun showering down behind Keith, the trees swaying in the wind, and the faint sweetness that touched my nose.

Act 9

“Calm down, Yeonwoo. Yes, breathe slowly… Good, now breathe out. That’s right.”

Following Steward’s instructions, I managed to regulate my breath. Images slowly and vaguely returned to my sight that had gone pitch black. When I calmed down a little, Steward handed me my meds and a cup of water.

When I hesitantly reached out, Steward dropped a tablet onto my palm. To my relief, I had successfully taken the cup of water from him without touching. After waiting for me to drink the water and swallow my meds, Steward opened his mouth. “You have gotten so much better, Yeonwoo. Mr. Pittman certainly seems to be helping.”

I helplessly looked up and gazed at Steward. Three days had passed since then. As obvious as it may be, I went to work and came back from work with Keith. The problem was that I couldn’t freely roam around the company building like before. Although I hadn’t yet experienced a panic attack, I was afraid that it would happen suddenly.

For the first time, I learned what it was like to be overcome by fear. In the end, I was barely able to leave my office that was connected to Keith’s. I took care of everything over the phone. From that evening, Steward began to come to Keith’s mansion.

“Mr. Pittman told me that I had one week to ‘fix’ you. That’s Extreme Alphas for you,” Steward said with a smile.

He worked with me for two hours every evening and prescribed me meds. I didn’t really see it myself, but he told me that I had become a lot better—that it had only been four days, and I was already panicking less and less every time I met Steward.

‘Maybe it’s just the meds doing their thing,’ I thought as I felt the tension being lifted from my body. My shoulders began to relax little by little. It was getting much easier to breathe as well.

If this continued, I would get fired sooner or later.

There was a limit to how much Keith could endure. I became both impatient and anxious. Steward, who was also sitting on a single-person sofa like me, quietly waited for me to calm down.

During our therapy sessions, Steward always made me sit near the door and kept the door open. This made me feel much more relieved than being in a closed space with just the two of us. If anything happened, Charles and the other employees around the house would come and help me. This was what comforted me the most ever since I began to live in this mansion. It was just as Steward had recommended.

To my surprise, he was a very skilled doctor. I learned that he specialized in treating those who had a higher social status and that normal plebs like me couldn’t even call for an appointment. He was picky in choosing his patients. I also found out that although he was Keith’s family doctor, Keith had never received therapy past his teenage years.

“It’s just a formality, really. After all, Extreme Alphas must be cautious.”

He had said this in passing, but this stirred my curiosity. “Is there a reason for that?”

Steward saw my eyes go back into focus and asked.