The Scent of Devotion

Saturday evening.

Min-ho stepped into the lounge of a luxury hotel in Apgujeong, where he had arranged to meet Kang Ji-eun, his former team leader. He had walked a short way through the thick heat of July, and even under the air-conditioning a faint sweat clung to his back and the nape of his neck.

The moment he came through the entrance, a familiar silhouette waved.

"Min-ho! Over here!"

In a wine-colored halter dress, Ji-eun looked so polished and alluring that thirty-eight was hard to believe. Her signature knife-cut bob and the sharp line of her eyes threw off the aura of a chic city woman.

"Ji-eun noona."

Min-ho went to her and drew her into a light embrace. In that instant the faint heat of his body and the smell of sweat brushed the tip of her nose, and she sniffed.

"Huh...?"

Ji-eun pressed her nose to the nape of his neck and drew a deep breath. From the sweat-damp skin beyond his shirt collar, a body scent rose that struck hard at her brain.

"Min-ho, did you change your cologne? That smell... it's driving me crazy."

"No. I didn't put any on. It's hot out—maybe it's just the sweat."

"Really? Then why does it smell so... bewitching? This isn't ordinary sweat. The second I caught it, my knees nearly buckled."

Ji-eun's eyes went hazy in an instant. Min-ho smiled to himself. It was the effect of Pheromone Lv. 1. The ability stayed hidden in ordinary moments and activated only when bodily fluids such as sweat or semen came into it, and on the opposite sex it worked like a lethal aphrodisiac.

"It's been a while. You've become a total star these days. Turn on the TV and there you are."

They sat, and ordered wine.

"I watched Running Woman. It was huge. Especially..."

Ji-eun laughed, playful, and tapped his thigh.

"That close-up of your 'proof of health.' It caused a riot. The women at the company practically stopped breathing when they saw it."

"Ah... please, not that story..."

When Min-ho flushed, Ji-eun burst out laughing.

"Nothing to be ashamed of. It's a man's medal. Watching it... honestly, I got wet."

Under the table she took his hand. Sweat had gathered in his warm palm.

"Tonight... I want to stay with you a long time. Things have been really hard lately."

"What happened?"

"We'll talk upstairs. I booked a room."

They took the elevator up to a suite on the fifteenth floor. The moment the door closed, Ji-eun threw herself at him.

"Nn— slurp..."

She devoured his mouth like a starving beast. Her nose went by instinct to the sweat-soaked nape of his neck and along his collarbone.

"Haa... Min-ho... the smell... I love the scent of your skin so much... just breathing it in, I feel like I'm going to come..."

She was beside herself, drinking in the smell of his body. Pheromone carried on his sweat was paralyzing her reason. Their clothes came off, and Ji-eun's naked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body was laid bare—tall at 172 centimeters, not an ounce of spare flesh on her, her breasts a full, heavy D-cup.

"Min-ho... do something to me... hurry..."

He laid her on the bed and began to caress her. Every time the sweat running off his body touched her skin, she jolted.

"Ah! Ah! Min-ho! There! So good!"

Her reactions were far more violent than usual. Pheromone mixed into his sweat seemed to have pushed her sensitivity to the limit. When he pushed inside, Ji-eun came apart.

"Hnnngh! I'm so full! You're too big...!"

"Does it feel good, noona?"

"Yeah... I'm losing my mind... your scent, your body... I love all of it... pound me harder!"

Min-ho activated Ejaculation Control and drove her on. Thirty minutes. Forty. The longer it went, the more their bodies were soaked through with sweat, and the thicker the pheromone grew until it filled the room. Ji-eun was spent, and yet every time she caught his scent, desire rose in her again like a zombie clawing back to life.

"Haa... haa... I can't... I'm at my limit..."

"This is the last one, noona."

One last time he drove in deep and poured everything into her.

Vrrrush!

"Aaaah!"

Ji-eun's body bowed like a drawn bow. A tremendous volume of semen filled her womb.

A long while later she lay in his arms, catching her breath. Then something strange happened. A soft radiance began to rise from skin smeared with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sweat and semen. Her dull complexion cleared, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes seemed to fade.

"Oh my... what's happening to my skin?"

Ji-eun looked in the mirror, startled.

"It's like I just walked out of a facial. No—better than that. And my body... I feel incredibly clear. Like the fatigue just melted off me."

Min-ho thought to himself.

The Pheromone skill... it had a side effect like this, too?

The effect was absurdly overpowered. For women, Min-ho's semen amounted to a tonic and a beauty serum more potent than any luxury cosmetic.

"Min-ho... I think I might really quit the company."

Ji-eun said it in earnest.

"Why? You're so good at the job, Team Leader."

"It's boring. Being with you like this makes me a hundred times happier. And..."

She smiled bitterly.

"I'm thinking of ending things with my husband, too."

"What? A divorce?"

"Yeah. The truth is, he has a woman he sees on the side. We've been living without stepping into each other's business... but ever since I met you, being next to him feels meaningless."

Ji-eun looked at him with naked longing.

"I... I don't want to be apart from you anymore. If I can just look at you, I feel like I could do anything."

Min-ho hesitated a moment, then spoke.

"Noona, then... would you be my manager?"

"Manager?"

"Yes. My schedule's getting heavier, and it's too much to handle alone. I need someone I can trust, and there's no one who works as well as you, or knows me as well."

Her eyes went wide.

"The pay... I might not match what you made as team leader, but I won't leave you short. A hundred million won a year. How's that?"

At the offer, Ji-eun let out a short laugh.

"Hey. Jeong Min-ho. Are you looking down on me?"

"What?"

"I've saved up quite a bit. The Gangnam apartment is in my name, too. I'm not working for the money."

She pulled his neck into her arms.

"I don't need a salary. Just... let me stay by your side. If I can manage your schedule and enjoy you like this in the gaps between... that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough."

"Noona..."

"In exchange, I'll cut off any other bitches wagging their tails at you. Except, of course... the ones you actually like."

She winked. Min-ho felt as if he had gained a solid ally.

"All right. Then starting today, you're my exclusive manager. Chief Kang."

"Take good care of me, Actor Jeong."

Sunday evening.

For the first time in a long while, Min-ho met Kim Su-jin, at a restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere near Gangnam Station. The humid night air had left a thin film of sweat on his forehead.

"Oppa!"

Su-jin ran up and linked her arm through his. She was still the innocent, fresh-faced bank clerk. But the moment she pressed close, her nose flared too.

"Oppa... that smell..."

"Hm? Do I smell like sweat?"

"No... it's not that... it smells so good. My heart just... starts pounding..."

She rubbed her face against his arm and buried her nose in the shirt that had gone faintly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠damp with sweat.

"Smelling this... I want to do it with you right away."

After they finished eating, they went to the little apartment where Su-jin lived alone. The moment the door shut, she clung to him.

"Oppa... I can't hold it anymore."

She sat him on the sofa and pulled his pants down. Then she sucked him with a greedy hunger, as if he were ice cream.

"Slurp... haa... so good... oppa, you taste so good..."

Whether it was the pheromone carried on his sweat and fluids, the way she served him was far more eager and bold than before.

"Oppa... I missed you so much. Watching Running Woman... I wanted that inside me so badly, I... by myself, over and over..."

She climbed up over him and began to move her own hips.

"Hnngh! Oppa! You're too big! I'm so full!"

"Su-jin, does it feel good?"

"Yes! So good! Your smell... your body... all of it's mine...!"

After the fierce coupling, Min-ho came deep inside her, filling her. Su-jin caught her breath, glanced at the mirror beside the bed, and startled.

"Oppa... look at this. It's really strange."

She cupped her own cheeks and stared into the glass.

"Right up until we started, my skin was a wreck from all the overtime. But now it's completely bright and clear. Like I just came back from an expensive spa."

She was smeared with sweat and semen, and yet a soft glow and a vitality that had not been there before played across her face.

"Yeah? You're not imagining it?"

When Min-ho asked with a smile, Su-jin shook her head.

"No, it's really different. Even the way it feels under my hand has gone firm and springy. Oppa... is yours some kind of tonic?"

At her innocent wonder, he was certain.

The Pheromone skill... it isn't only seduction. Something special has definitely awakened in my essence.

"That's right. Oppa's the tonic. So take plenty, and get healthy."

At his joke, Su-jin smiled shyly and burrowed into his arms.

"Hehe. Then I'll have to eat oppa often from now on. For me, you're the best supplement there is."

She buried her face against his chest.

"I know you're so famous now... and busy. I know we can't meet often."

"Su-jin..."

"Even so... come find me sometimes, like this. When you miss me... don't forget me."

Her eyes grew wet. Min-ho's chest tightened.

"Of course. How could I ever forget you? I promise. I'll come whenever I have the time."

"You mean it? Promise!"

Min-ho held her tight. Sweat, virility, and pheromone. The women were sinking deeper and deeper into addiction to him.

Over the weekend, meeting Ji-eun and Su-jin had healed him in body and mind. He had brought Ji-eun on as his manager and firmed up what he had with Su-jin. And he had confirmed the power of the Pheromone skill, and even the efficacy of his semen.

Now... I'm ready to run again.

Monday was drawing near. With his new manager, Kang Ji-eun, beside him, Min-ho had finished preparing to soar toward something higher.