Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 104

Josh had to suppress the urge to grab him by the collar and shout, and he ended up tightening his grip on Chase’s shoulder. He only realized it after Chase patted his hand on his shoulder a couple of times.

When Josh lowered his gaze, Chase looked at Steward and spoke. “Is there a way?”

“Well, at least we have experimental results for the side effects and treatment of the medicine.”

He clicked a few times, looking at the screen as if to confirm, then turned the monitor towards Josh and Chase. Seeing the screen filled with text, Josh froze. He opened his mouth, but it was a few seconds later that he spoke.

“…Surely, this is all of it.”

“That’s right.” Steward nodded. “These are all the medicines Chase took.”

Josh was again speechless. Chase also said nothing, and a heavy silence continued in the consultation room.

Josh’s bombshell announcement came after the group returned to the filming set. Leaving Chase, who immediately went into his trailer, Josh took advantage of the brief commotion to gather the members, saying he had something to talk about.

“What’s wrong?”

“What is it?”

Josh took a deep breath and spoke to his colleagues, who showed both curiosity and anxiety. “I think I need to leave the team for a while.”

“Leave? Why?” Isaac shouted in surprise the moment he heard. Even the usually calm Seth’s eyes widened, and Henry’s mouth dropped open. Mark spoke a beat later.

“Surely, Josh. Are you transferring to another…?”

“Oh, no, sir. I have no intention of changing companies, Mark.”

At Josh’s immediate denial, Mark finally let out a sigh of relief. Henry silently took out his phone, wrote ‘Eliminated’ next to Mark’s name in his notes, and put it back. Behind him, Mark asked again, “Then what is it? Why suddenly?”

“Were the test results bad?”

Isaac shook his head at Seth’s question. “No, C’s test results have nothing to do with Josh. …Do they?”

As Isaac asked belatedly, half in doubt, Josh nodded bitterly. “Because I’m an Omega, they said it would be better for me to stay away for a while.”

“What did you say?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“How did they know you’re an Omega? Wasn’t that our secret? Who’s the spy bastard! How dare they leak information, I’ll kill them!”

“Calm down, Henry.”

Everyone shouted in disbelief. Seth, especially, calmed down the fuming Henry and turned his attention to Josh.

“I don’t understand, Josh.” Seth continued. “What does it matter that you’re an Omega? And how did they even know? …Is it related to you going into C’s consultation room alone?”

Seth was quick-witted, as expected. Feeling the gazes fixed on him, Josh let out a short sigh.

“I confessed to Laura that I’m an Omega.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Josh’s confession. Josh dryly explained the situation. “I had no choice but to tell them. C’s current seizure is due to a pheromone imbalance. The cause is probably an overdose of medication… and that needs to be stabilized, but Omega pheromones interfere. Because they keep stimulating him.”

“But you take medicine, don’t you? And your scent is barely noticeable.”

Josh flinched for a moment at Seth’s point. But no one noticed his reaction. Soon, Josh replied as if nothing was wrong. “It would be troublesome if I suddenly went into heat from C’s stimulation. I can’t keep taking medicine, and if I go into heat and my scent is noticeable, it would be dangerous for C.”

Half of it was true. The bigger problem was whether Chase could silently watch Josh lingering in front of him. There was a way to hide the fact that he was an Omega and be assigned to a distant area away from Chase, but if he were to talk to someone or show even the slightest suspicious behavior, there was no telling how Chase would react. Moreover, if pheromones were to be released against Chase’s will, Josh would definitely become aroused. His mark on his ear would react before his reason. Then, against his will, Josh would release pheromones, which would surely have fatal consequences for Chase.

“Then what about the other Omegas? There are Omegas among the staff on set, aren’t there?”

At Isaac’s point, Josh replied, “Laura talked to the director about that, and they decided to exclude Omega staff while C is filming. Fortunately, there aren’t many scenes left, and they said it’s possible.”

After rushing to finish filming, Chase was admitted to the hospital to receive full-scale treatment. After taking so much medicine, he now had to pour in more medicine to get rid of the effects of the previous ones. The thought alone made him feel sorry for Chase, but he couldn’t even stay by his side and watch over him. Because Josh was currently the most dangerous presence for Chase.

“Even so, do you need to be completely removed? You said there isn’t much filming left anyway.”

“A security guard’s duty is to protect the client’s body. If something happens, we can’t just watch from afar.”

He thought it was a fairly convincing answer, but Seth still looked unconvinced. Josh pretended not to notice and changed the subject to Mark.

“So, it’s been decided that I’ll be removed from close-range security for now. Since I’m the only Omega in the entire security team…”

Seeing Josh trail off bitterly, Mark let out a complicated sigh. It was good news that Josh wasn’t thinking of transferring, but being excluded from work like this wasn’t ideal either. Just as he was wondering what to do next, Seth suddenly pointed out, “But something’s strange. You have a mark, don’t you? It doesn’t make sense that you might go into heat from another Alpha’s pheromones.”

At those words, everyone simultaneously looked at Josh with surprised expressions, as if saying, ‘Oh, right.’ At that moment, Josh felt the urge to punch Seth unconscious and lock him up somewhere.

You’re too quick-witted, Seth.

Barely suppressing the urge to grind his teeth, Josh replied as nonchalantly as possible. “I didn’t react to your pheromones until now, did I? It’s different with an extreme Alpha’s pheromones.”

“Is that so?” everyone mumbled, trailing off. No one had much information about extreme Alphas. Josh also knew almost nothing until he got involved with Chase. All he knew was that their eye color was different or that their brains could be affected if pheromones accumulated.

But even if they had known a lot about extreme Alphas before, this case would be different. Even Steward, who had the most information, hadn’t readily offered a solution.

In other words, no matter what he said, they wouldn’t find much fault with it.

As expected, they all lowered their heads with complicated expressions, seemingly accepting Josh’s words at face value. Except for Isaac.

“Didn’t C’s brother pour pheromones on you before? In the hallway.”

Josh immediately added Isaac to his list of people to knock out and lock up.

Why do these guys remember so much?

Before Josh could say anything, a startled Henry blinked first. “That crazy bastard? When?”

Isaac frowned, as if recalling, and continued, “A long time ago at the mansion, when he came to take him to the party. I went to report, and he was doing that. The hallway was full of pheromone scent, enough to make me dizzy, and come to think of it, did that bastard notice Josh was an Omega? How did he know? We’ve been together for years and had no idea.”

“He was just guessing.”

Josh quickly racked his brain to force out an excuse. “It was around the time I was going into heat, so I took more medicine than usual. If I hadn’t, I would have reacted. Aside from all that, this is Mr. Steward’s recommendation. Laura and C are following it. We’re employees, so what can we do but do as we’re told? No matter how much we complain, if they say you’re an Omega so you’re out, that’s the end of it.”

The latter part of his words was somewhat irritable. His impatience was evident in his tone, but the members misunderstood.

“That’s true, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have blamed you.”

“It’s unfair, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Mark nodded, followed by Isaac apologizing, and Henry also mumbled in a deflated voice, “Then what happens to you from now on? If you’re completely out of work, does that mean you’re going on vacation?”

Even the quick-witted Seth changed the subject and asked. Josh felt a little relieved, having barely overcome the hurdle.

“First, I was told to be on standby. So, Mark, I’m sorry to everyone, but can I take a vacation? They said to stay away from the set, but I might get called suddenly, right? Being on standby implies that. So I can’t terminate the contract and take on other work…”

“Ah, I understand what you mean. We’ll have to do that, there’s no other way.”

Mark readily nodded. It was fortunate that Josh wasn’t particularly displeased or wronged about being excluded from work. Rather, Josh clearly felt sorry for the members, as he was the only one getting an unintended vacation.

“I’m sorry for being out while everyone else is working.”

Seth shook his head. “It’s not your fault. The client told you to leave.”

“How often do you get to guard an extreme Alpha? Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey, buy us drinks later.”

Isaac and then Henry patted Josh’s arm and said. Josh exchanged apologies and thanks, then prepared to leave the set. After packing his few belongings and saying his final goodbyes, he headed to Chase’s trailer. He thought he might be able to exchange a glance from a distance before leaving, but he was immediately blocked by Laura.

“I’m sorry, but no, Josh.”

She continued, her face tense. “Chase is in a dangerous state right now… He received an injection to remove pheromones. He’ll probably be completely unconscious for a day or two. Mr. Steward warned that Omegas shouldn’t go near him during that time…”

As she said, the area was filled with security guards. He had expected he wouldn’t be able to meet him since access was restricted. But realizing that he couldn’t even say goodbye from a distance made his heart ache. Josh smiled as if nothing was wrong and spoke.

“I was going to say thank you and goodbye… but I guess there’s no choice. Please tell him for me. Thank you too, Laura.”

“Mr. Miller will call you again as soon as his condition improves, Josh. Don’t be too disappointed.”

Laura said that, giving an awkward smile. There was still a hint of suspicion in her expression.

Josh is an Omega, really?

Josh pretended not to notice and turned to walk away. The place where his car was parked wasn’t far. As he walked, he casually greeted passersby and exchanged brief words, but once he got in the car, he couldn’t remember what he had said or who he had met at all.