By Zephyria “This gelato is totally insane. It’s Instagrammable? How did they make it in the shape of a Hallabong?”
“Hyung, you should take a picture of this and upload it. With the basalt ice cream!”
“Okay. Hold them both side by side.”
“Ah, if I angle it like this, does my hand look weird?”
“No, it looks totally fine.”
From the moment he rejoined the group of friends, which was a mix of two Alphas and two Omegas, Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression was subtly sour. Lee Yoon-san looked at Hwang Hae-kyung with a puzzled expression, but as he watched Lee Seok-jae taking pictures of everything they ate and saw at every hot spot they visited, and Kim Ji-hoo willingly participating in Lee Seok-jae’s influencer activities, he began to understand his sour expression.
Lee Seok-jae and Kim Ji-hoo really did take pictures everywhere they went. Not only that, but Lee Seok-jae immediately edited the photos he took on the spot, just adjusting the colors a bit, and uploaded them to his story. He even tagged the location with a location sticker, to the point where people recognized Lee Seok-jae and glanced at him in person.
Meanwhile, Ham Se-jin seemed to be busy on his phone, going off to make calls every now and then, and Shin Soo-hyun was poking Lee Yoon-san in the side, demanding to know what had happened in the meantime with gestures. She seemed curious about his relationship with Hwang Hae-kyung and what had happened that made him abandon them at the pub.
Overall, it was chaotic. Hwang Hae-kyung wanted to pack Lee Yoon-san up and go home. They had only just joined and bought Hallabong and basalt-shaped gelato, but he still wanted to go home. Hwang Hae-kyung had no desire to lead this chaotic atmosphere around.
At least in the past, Hwang Hae-kyung and Ham Se-jin hadn’t really joined in on Lee Seok-jae’s social butterfly antics, so even when they went together, the atmosphere wasn’t this chaotic. But today was different.
Next to Lee Seok-jae was Kim Ji-hoo, who actively encouraged and supported his SNS activities. Shin Soo-hyun also subtly joined in on their social butterfly antics from time to time.
“This is crazy, seriously. Look at how many likes I’m getting as soon as I upload it to my story. Hyung, you’re a total influencer…”
“What’s a ‘total influencer,’ is that a compliment?”
“Ah, it’s a compliment. I’ve never seen so many likes on a story, not even on a feed, seriously. Usually people just watch stories and move on, unless they’re celebrities or something?”
“Really? I just press it without any meaning, even if I’m just watching?”
“Really? I don’t usually press it unless it’s someone I’m close to?”
They were so engrossed in watching Lee Seok-jae’s SNS story that they didn’t even realize their ice cream was melting. By that point, Shin Soo-hyun had already joined in on the influencer game.
They mainly took pictures for them, or checked the feeds and stories that Lee Seok-jae uploaded together, chatting away. In the process, Ham Se-jin naturally slipped away, using phone calls as an excuse, Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression was cold, and Lee Yoon-san was busy patting Hwang Hae-kyung’s back or arm to extend his patience.
The biggest problem was that there were a lot of people everywhere they went. Even if just the three tall Alpha volleyball players went around, they would attract a lot of attention because of their height, but today there were three Omegas with them.
The three Omegas, including Lee Yoon-san, were also quite handsome, so it was enough to attract people’s attention. To strangers, it would look like a group of three tall, handsome Alphas and three pretty boys.
Of course, Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo were on the shorter side, so their appearance made it easy to guess that they were Omegas, but even Betas knew that the number of male Omegas was extremely small, so they didn’t immediately jump to conclusions. So they just glanced at them.
Anyway, since there were six people with striking appearances, it was natural for people’s eyes to linger repeatedly. The problem was that Lee Yoon-san couldn’t get used to the attention at all.
Lee Yoon-san couldn’t seem to get used to the fact that people’s eyes kept going to his group. He awkwardly rubbed his bright red ears and cheeks, or rolled his eyes, unable to find a place to look.
Then, Hwang Hae-kyung stood next to Lee Yoon-san, as if to shield him, and took away the attention of the people instead. He took off the sunglasses he had deliberately worn and hung them on the chest pocket of his shirt, and swept back his bangs that slightly covered his forehead, revealing his face.
As soon as Hwang Hae-kyung revealed his face, people shifted their attention to him. People who had initially recognized him as just a handsome person whispered his name to each other as soon as they saw his face.
As if they recognized the volleyball player who had won a gold medal at the Olympics just two years ago.
“The sun is strong, so stand facing this way.”
The problem was that the whispering didn’t end there. The talented player, who had been on the promising rookie and ace track, had suddenly announced his retirement at his peak, so his name was always followed by numerous speculations. And those rumors were still ongoing, so people who recognized Hwang Hae-kyung’s face soon began to murmur among themselves.
Some people even came up to him and asked to take pictures. That’s when Lee Seok-jae or Ham Se-jin stepped in. They knew that if they didn’t handle the situation when Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression was still at the ‘lukewarm’ level, something bad would happen.
“I’m happy to see you, but can you take a picture with me?”
“I’m sorry, but he doesn’t play sports anymore. He just came to visit quietly, so it might be difficult.”
“Ah, okay…”
People quickly turned away at Lee Seok-jae’s smiling words, but it was inevitable that complaints like ‘He’s arrogant,’ ‘He has no manners,’ and ‘He has celebrity disease’ would be heard as soon as they turned their backs. Hwang Hae-kyung looked at those people with a contemplative gaze, and Lee Yoon-san couldn’t hide his resentful expression, as if he was upset.
“Lee Yoon-san.”
“…Uh.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m not okay…”
“If you’re rejected without knowing the situation, you might feel bad for a moment.”
Just think of it that way, and it’ll be fine. You don’t have to be affected by those words. Hwang Hae-kyung said, grabbing Lee Yoon-san’s arm and positioning him to face him. It was in a direction where Lee Yoon-san’s gaze wouldn’t clash with people’s, and the distance was such that Hwang Hae-kyung’s shadow would create shade.
And he began to check the phone screen he had been checking since earlier.
“Hae-kyung, what are you looking at?”
Lee Yoon-san stared at Hwang Hae-kyung’s face for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and changed the subject. He couldn’t agree with Hwang Hae-kyung’s words that it was okay, but he did agree that he didn’t have to be affected by them. Also, he had been curious about what Hwang Hae-kyung had been looking at on his phone for a while.
“Security alert app.”
“Why?”
“Checking if the external intrusion alerts are working properly.”
Hwang Hae-kyung tilted his phone screen so that Lee Yoon-san could see it clearly. As he said, the app of the security company run by Hwang Jun-won was on the screen he showed, and several security camera screens were divided and displayed inside the app screen. It seemed to be a security system that captured targets with sensors that detected movement around the camera and sent notifications to the app each time.
Lee Yoon-san frowned and stared at the screen, then raised his head. Hwang Hae-kyung had probably turned it on to check the app settings, because he quickly checked the notification settings and turned off the screen.
“So, did those two work out?”
Shin Soo-hyun, who had come up to them at some point in the midst of all the chaos, poked Lee Yoon-san in the side with his elbow. He seemed to be trying to ask Lee Yoon-san secretly, but unfortunately, Lee Yoon-san and Hwang Hae-kyung were too close together, so he couldn’t achieve his goal.
Because the answer to Shin Soo-hyun’s question came from Hwang Hae-kyung.
“Yeah.”
“Huh?”
“It’s true that we worked out, Yoon-san and I.”
“Wow…”
He’s just saying it outright. Shin Soo-hyun had a dumbfounded expression at Hwang Hae-kyung’s nonchalant reply. On the other hand, Hwang Hae-kyung was as calm as someone who had just had a very ordinary and natural conversation, but Lee Yoon-san glanced at Hwang Hae-kyung and coughed awkwardly out of embarrassment.
It was because he didn’t expect to hear Hwang Hae-kyung directly confirm their relationship at this timing.
“Well, I’d like to congratulate you…”
On the other hand, Shin Soo-hyun could only give such an ambiguous reply with an expression that was half bewildered, half displeased, and mostly amazed. He had just witnessed in real time a famous athlete, who seemed like a celebrity who had nothing to do with him during his school days, being demoted to his friend’s lover.
“But you can’t just ditch us. We came to Jeju because of him.”
And it was only natural that Hwang Hae-kyung frowned and smiled at the words that followed.
✧✧✧
The group ate ice cream and walked along the Olle Trail nearby. No one was passionate enough to find and choose charming tourist spots, so they just wandered around a convenient place nearby and planned to have drinks in the evening.
Even the nearby Olle Trail was found by Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun, and when asked, ‘What do three Alphas do when they’re together?’ Ham Se-jin simply replied, ‘What else do three Alphas do but drink?’ It seemed that the three Alphas, who had glamorous appearances, didn’t know how to have fun in a special way.
Ham Se-jin and Hwang Hae-kyung both hated crowded places, and Lee Seok-jae replied that he went to parties and hung out, and when he wanted to drink quietly, the three of them got together. Anyway, the three Alphas hadn’t planned a specific itinerary and come to Jeju, so no one objected to the itinerary suggested by Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun.
So they walked along the Olle Trail, which was relatively deserted, and bought bread at several famous bakeries that Lee Seok-jae’s followers recommended on his story. In the process, Ham Se-jin and Hwang Hae-kyung acted as drivers, and they decided to go to Gotjawal, where they could see unique and secluded places rather than famous tourist spots.
When they arrived at Gotjawal, they had a meal of wood-fired pizza and waited until night to see the firefly festival, which was in full swing, and decided to walk slowly along the exploration course. They were lucky enough to be able to enter on the spot, so they had the opportunity to participate.
“Yoon-san.”
“Huh?”
“Get on my back. You walked too much today.”
Hwang Hae-kyung whispered to Lee Yoon-san, who was standing next to him, waiting to enter at the entrance of the dark forest, and he raised his head. Hwang Hae-kyung gestured at his injured foot and turned his back, and when Lee Yoon-san hesitated, looking around, Hwang Hae-kyung knelt down in front of Lee Yoon-san and took off his shoes.
Then, his injured foot, which was wrapped in a bandage, was revealed, and he felt the eyes of people glancing around.
“Okay?”
Hwang Hae-kyung raised his head after revealing Lee Yoon-san’s injured foot and asked that. As if he was showing people that there was a valid reason for him to be carried on his back. So Lee Yoon-san coughed awkwardly and was able to slowly get on Hwang Hae-kyung’s back.
He was worried that it might be a bit of an exaggeration in a course where they were exploring by walking through a quiet forest, but he thought that it would be somewhat excused because Hwang Hae-kyung had loudly revealed the reason.
So Hwang Hae-kyung carried Lee Yoon-san on his back, holding his shoes in one hand, and entered the forest. The forest path, which was walked by a small number of people, was very dark and quiet, making him feel like he was walking through a spooky fairy tale.
The summer night air was humid before entering the forest, but the inside was relatively cool. The sound of small twigs and grass breaking underfoot was calm, and the occasional chirping of insects made him feel a completely different atmosphere from outside the forest.
Lee Yoon-san looked around while being carried on Hwang Hae-kyung’s back, who was walking slowly. The visitors, who were walking at intervals, seemed to be trying to keep the rule of silence, and were talking in very small whispers.
Since it was an experience where lights and filming were not allowed to see fireflies, it was not awkward for each group to hold hands or walk close together, even if they were not children.
“It’s so quiet here, right.”
So Lee Yoon-san whispered in Hwang Hae-kyung’s ear in a very small voice. Because he was being carried on his back, he could talk in a smaller voice than usual. And Hwang Hae-kyung, who heard that voice, nodded and slowed down his walking speed a little more.
Since he was already walking at a slow pace, it was easy to fall behind as the last of the group of visitors when he slowed down even more. No one seemed to care about Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san, who were walking a little apart from the visitors.
His friends were already walking among the visitors, and they seemed to be busy looking around, as the guide said that they were slowly getting closer to the area where fireflies lived.
“It’s dark, so people don’t know who you are.”
“That’s right. It’s comfortable.”
So it was natural for Lee Yoon-san to whisper excitedly.
He had been tormented by the attention all day while walking around the crowded tourist spots. Wherever they went, people recognized Hwang Hae-kyung or Ham Se-jin, and the group was always attracting attention. And Hwang Hae-kyung endured that attention without covering his face. As if he was trying to take even one more of the eyes that were going to Lee Yoon-san.
It was in the same vein that Hwang Hae-kyung put the sunglasses Lee Yoon-san always carried around for light sensitivity on Lee Yoon-san. More than anything, he hated the way people looked at Lee Yoon-san.
It was a forest he entered after experiencing such situations all day long. The quiet night freed Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san from the gazes of others, and the summer night scent of grass and the cool night breeze wafting through the forest were comforting. The leaves of the greenery that seemed to cover the dark night, and the sound of dirt and grass being trampled underfoot were simply welcome reasons.
“You know, growing up.”
While walking and smelling the grass, Lee Yoon-san opened his mouth shyly in a low voice.
“I sometimes thought of you whenever it was vacation.”
His voice was quiet, as if telling a secret, and a little embarrassed, as if shrinking away. Hwang Hae-kyung chuckled at the voice he heard in his ear, and even though it was a smile-like laugh, Lee Yoon-san, who was behind him, could feel that he was laughing.
“Did you resent me for not playing with you?”
“…A little. But more than that, just.”
“Yeah.”
“I was curious about you.”
At Lee Yoon-san’s voice, which sounded like he was smiling shyly, Hwang Hae-kyung picked him up once. It was a moment when he regretted that the traces of his Pheromone had been washed away from Lee Yoon-san’s body while showering to prepare to go out.
In a situation where he heard words he didn’t even expect, Hwang Hae-kyung clenched his teeth so that his masseter muscles stood out again, then slowly released the tension. Otherwise, he felt like he would have to put Lee Yoon-san down and kiss him right away. Even if the forest was hiding them, Lee Yoon-san would be embarrassed if he did that.
“But how did you recognize me right away when you saw me again?”
As he paused for a moment, Lee Yoon-san continued, as if changing the subject, as if he understood Hwang Hae-kyung’s actions. Fortunately, this time it was a question that Hwang Hae-kyung could answer easily.
“Because you were the same as when you were little.”
“Wow, that’s too much. I lost a lot of weight.”
“It’s not about that.”
Hwang Hae-kyung recalled the last time he saw Lee Yoon-san as a child.
He had run into the chubby little kid every vacation, but he always had a sulky or glaring expression on his face. But he would often pretend to cry or laugh in front of his parents, but he never did that in front of Hwang Hae-kyung. Therefore, the young Hwang Hae-kyung might have hated the young Lee Yoon-san a little more.
Of course, he felt like his parents had been taken away by Lee Yoon-san, and he was also angry that his parents treated him like ‘a Hyung prepared for Lee Yoon-san’, but he was also annoyed that the little kid didn’t smile at him.
Then, on the last camping day in Jeju, the young Hwang Hae-kyung was able to see the young Lee Yoon-san with an excited expression and a smiling face for the first time. Lee Yoon-san, who was chasing squirrels with him, had sparkling eyes and an excited and happy face. Then, when Hwang Hae-kyung teased him, he would be greatly surprised and look at him with resentment, but soon burst into a clear laugh.
It was the first time the young Hwang Hae-kyung had seen that side of him. That’s why it was etched in his mind and didn’t disappear. If he had seen that smiling face and excited expression more often, it wouldn’t have mattered, but they just wouldn’t disappear from his memory.
After that, Hwang Hae-kyung sometimes thought of that face, and often wondered about that expression. Just like Lee Yoon-san often thought of Hwang Hae-kyung.
He wondered if the little kid he met every vacation still smiled like that, and he guessed that his parents, who adored the little kid, had fallen in love with him because they saw that expression on his face.
It would be a lie to say that he often thought of him because he was suffering from growing pains, but he still thought of him every time he had a vacation.
Therefore, the reason why seventeen-year-old Hwang Hae-kyung was able to recognize sixteen-year-old Lee Yoon-san right away was largely thanks to that smiling face etched in his mind and his guesses.
Sixteen-year-old Lee Yoon-san still had a gentle and kind smile, and his expression was exactly the same as the one he had occasionally ruminated on every vacation. More than anything, he was familiar with his unique kind and gentle atmosphere.
So when Hwang Hae-kyung first saw sixteen-year-old Lee Yoon-san, he was unknowingly certain. The moment he saw Lee Yoon-san’s face, who lowered his head and listened to his friends, and his gentle smile with drooping eyes, he was sure that his parents had seen that side of him and that’s why they loved him so much.
So he had no choice but to be sure that that kid was Lee Yoon-san. Although it was abstract to explain in words, he felt a sense of powerlessness as if something was collapsing somewhere in his heart at that moment.
It was the belated sense of futility and strange sense of defeat of someone who had finally recognized Lee Yoon-san’s innate kindness and understood the adults of the past.
But even so, his heart was so excited and he couldn’t take his eyes off him enough to overturn all those feelings. He wanted to get closer and talk to him. He was unbearable to create a connection. Hwang Hae-kyung now knows that all those feelings were the moment he fell in love with someone.
“I just thought the people who loved you so much wanted to see you smile, the moment I saw you.”
Ah, so that’s why they loved him so much when they saw that side of him. Hwang Hae-kyung added, looking at the people walking ahead with a distance between them.
“That’s why I recognized you. I thought there was no way it couldn’t be you.”
“Hey, Lee….”
Hwang Hae-kyung’s voice, which continued in a rather blunt and indifferent tone, was low but not whispering, so it was clearly conveyed to Lee Yoon-san. Lee Yoon-san, who felt embarrassed and ashamed at the same time, made a groaning sound from behind, but Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t add any other words to change the atmosphere for no reason.
Instead, he smiled and strode after the people, and soon the surroundings of the two began to brighten little by little.
No, it wasn’t that it had become brighter, but pieces of light flew through the air as if starlight had fallen. After walking for a long time, they finally arrived at the habitat of the fireflies.
“Wow….”
At the light of the fireflies that appeared one by one around them, this time Lee Yoon-san also filled his reddened cheeks with vitality and looked around. The fireflies, whose numbers had decreased due to environmental pollution, and even the guide couldn’t guarantee how much experience would be possible, were flying around as if surrounding the area.
The fireflies, emitting light like stardust falling down, or like fireworks falling from a fireworks display, flickered continuously as they roamed the dark forest. The light of the fireflies, which flickered while embroidering the greenery where darkness had settled, made the surroundings look completely surreal. The sound of insects and the cool night air were the same.
“It’s so pretty….”
Therefore, it was only natural that Lee Yoon-san, who was watching, burst into exclamation.
Hwang Hae-kyung put Lee Yoon-san down at the place where all the visitors had stopped. After making him stand on his instep, he dropped his sneakers in front of him, and Lee Yoon-san put his feet into his shoes on his own and stood on both feet.
Low-flying fireflies roamed through the tall grass and the deep blue sky. There were really quite a few of them, to the point where it was impossible to move. In case they moved rashly and startled them, they might run away. And that was the same thought for everyone gathered in the same place, so people quietly admired them without shouting or making a fuss.
Among them, only Hwang Hae-kyung looked at Lee Yoon-san. He fixed his gaze on Lee Yoon-san, who was lost in thought looking around and exclaiming, on the summer boy standing in the fantastic forest on a midsummer night, and didn’t take his eyes off him for a moment.
Lee Yoon-san, who had all his attention taken away by the fireflies, was like a boy who had come out of the sea where he lived and experienced the forest for the first time and was fascinated by it. It was an unrealistic and wonderful sight that made Hwang Hae-kyung’s heart ache with an unknown impatience as he looked at him.
It wasn’t just a matter of appearance. The purely admiring expression and Lee Yoon-san’s unique gentle atmosphere, as well as the careful kindness that he didn’t even dare to move rashly for fear of harming the small fireflies, made up Lee Yoon-san. His unique comfortable atmosphere. As if he had been like that since he was very young.
It was a new yet familiar feeling that made Hwang Hae-kyung fall in love again helplessly. Lee Yoon-san’s current appearance was also like the foundation of all the words and actions he had taken, knowing kindness and respect.
At the same time, he remembered what Lee Yoon-san’s mother, Lee Jung-won, had said to him. Lee Yoon-san only knows how to love, so it’s okay to accept that heart without being anxious. And even the words that Hwang Hae-kyung would have only learned such love.
“Lee Yoon-san.”
“Huh?”
“Come here.”
As if he was thirsty, Hwang Hae-kyung finally called Lee Yoon-san’s name. Then he turned his head and looked at Hwang Hae-kyung, who was looking around. In the midst of the fireflies’ lights scattering brilliantly in the forest, only that gaze came into his eyes clearly.
At Hwang Hae-kyung’s words, Lee Yoon-san came to him without hesitation and looked at his complexion. With a look of doubt on his face. Hwang Hae-kyung scanned Lee Yoon-san’s face with his eyes, and finally smiled as if collapsing and hugged him tightly enough to be suffocating.
Then, as if by a lie, the thirst disappeared and a sense of satisfaction filled him. Therefore, Hwang Hae-kyung was able to properly appreciate the scenery of the surrounding light clusters only after that. It was a scenery that he could only see after hiding the strongest light in his arms.
✧✧✧
The group, who had finished the firefly experience, headed to the Suwon-gil Night Market in Jeju City to fill their empty stomachs. It was a move according to the opinions of Lee Seok-jae and the twenty-year-olds, who wanted to go to a forest night market that was a little more festive than the relatively famous Dongmun Night Market.
On the way to the night market, LED sculptures were standing here and there, and bright light bulb lights were illuminating the darkness in the night market located in the forest of trees next to the road. There were various food trucks and general merchandise booths, and tables and chairs were placed between the trees, creating a cute atmosphere.
As soon as the group entered the night market, they decided to fill their stomachs first. They bought plenty of seafood butter grill and black pork skewers, and then bought shrimp dishes and cube steaks that were famous as truck menus in Jeju and took a seat at the table.
“Jeju Island is really good.”
“It’s a tourist destination, so everything is good if you have money.”
Lee Yoon-san, who chewed and swallowed the shrimp while looking at the string of light bulbs connected to the trees, said in an excited voice, and Shin Soo-hyun, who was sitting across from him and using his cell phone, replied indifferently. Lee Yoon-san stared at Shin Soo-hyun for a moment with a sulky look, but since it wasn’t exactly wrong, he picked up a black pork skewer and took a piece.
“But who are you contacting so much?”
“The guy who talked to me at that pub.”
“What, just a guy who hit on you. Are you okay? He’s not a weirdo?”
When Kim Ji-hoo hit Shin Soo-hyun, who was constantly contacting someone on his cell phone, Shin Soo-hyun’s ears turned a little red. It seemed that the conversation with the person he had been hit on at the pub was going well. Kim Ji-hoo frowned and asked Shin Soo-hyun, who was like that, as if checking, and Lee Seok-jae, who was eating chicken next to him, chimed in.
“Well, he didn’t seem suspicious at first? He didn’t seem that lecherous himself.”
“Was he an Alpha?”
“Yeah. I kept a good distance and didn’t seem to touch him, so I watched him for a while, but he seemed a bit flustered. It seems he hasn’t even asked to have a meal separately yet.”
“Wow. Seok-jae Hyung was a complete protector that day.”
“I went with you to do that, seriously? I’m used to those kinds of places, so I’m just like that.”
Lee Seok-jae and Kim Ji-hoo’s conversation continued roughly. Lee Seok-jae ate the french fries that came with the chicken and told the story of that day as if it wasn’t a big deal, and Kim Ji-hoo, who was sensitive to the identity of the Alpha, was able to put aside his suspicions a little thanks to that.
Kim Ji-hoo, who had been developing an eye for seeing Alphas since he was young, didn’t trust Shin Soo-hyun or Lee Yoon-san because they had some naive sides. So there was no denying that he would unnecessarily pry into Alphas for those two, but in the meantime, it seemed that the Alpha next to Lee Yoon-san had been focusing on marking him since early on, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to interfere.
Again, it was right to see it as an ‘unavoidable situation’ even before judging what kind of Alpha the friend was.
Kim Ji-hoo knew very well that Hwang Hae-kyung, who was acting like a guard dog, never leaving Lee Yoon-san’s side, had been struggling to grab all of Lee Yoon-san’s attention since high school and not let go. It was because he had been watching their contact from a third party’s point of view.
At the time, Hwang Hae-kyung’s SNS feed always had pictures of him with a ‘black Bunny ear ceremony’ headband. Besides, the Bunny ear ceremony he did every time he was selected for a game wasn’t just a day or two.
That’s why the shock was even greater when Lee Yoon-san said that he couldn’t contact Hwang Hae-kyung. Shin Soo-hyun, who heard the same news next to him, replied, ‘Maybe it’s because of the entrance exam.’ or ‘Then why don’t you try contacting him through your mom.’, but Kim Ji-hoo was inwardly resentful of Hwang Hae-kyung.
He was dumbfounded and speechless that he had seduced the kid like that, snatched away all his attention, and then suddenly disappeared. The docile Lee Yoon-san didn’t seem like he would even resent him.
So when Lee Yoon-san said, ‘I’m not going to contact him first either.’, Kim Ji-hoo inwardly felt relieved and actively supported him, and Shin Soo-hyun laughed, saying, ‘So you have pride too?’—Shin Soo-hyun seemed to think that it was a problem that could be resolved if only Lee Yoon-san was active since Lee Yoon-san’s mothers were close to Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents.—
As someone who had been watching that time, Kim Ji-hoo felt subtle about Hwang Hae-kyung. The Hwang Hae-kyung he actually encountered seemed incomparably more wonderful than when he saw him in past videos or SNS photos. So when he actually saw him in front of him, the past atrocities faded away.
He vowed that Hwang Hae-kyung seemed more extraordinary and special than any Alpha Kim Ji-hoo had ever seen in his life. And he realized that his feelings for him stemmed from his unique, solid, and neat attitude.
Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t have the typical stance of an Alpha in his early twenties who was ‘well aware of his own excellence and had just begun to enjoy freedom’. He didn’t show any of the Alpha’s atmosphere, which was a bit arrogant and haughty, and therefore more special and free. Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t show any signs of being obscene, naturally flowing, or even peripheral possibilities.
Even Lee Seok-jae and Ham Se-jin, who naturally exuded it, seemed to be tightly locking up and not revealing that obscene ease unique to Alphas.
He was an Alpha who didn’t act dissolute or relaxed even at the pub, and only looked at Lee Yoon-san, who was sitting next to him. When he had Lee Yoon-san sitting close to him, he sometimes looked like a predator who was full and had no will to hunt, but otherwise, he looked more like a well-controlled ascetic, like a clergyman wearing a Roman collar tightly.
‘Did he really not contact him because of the entrance exam…?’
As a result, even Kim Ji-hoo, who had been inwardly resentful of Hwang Hae-kyung on behalf of Lee Yoon-san, was confused. Hwang Hae-kyung’s attitude towards Lee Yoon-san and his unilateral actions of cutting off contact in the past were somehow inconsistent.
“Hey, Lee Yoon-san.”
“Huh?”So when he poked Lee Yoon-san and called him, Lee Yoon-san gave a careless and foolish answer while diligently chewing on shrimp.” Ah, when will that bastard ever become reliable? Kim Ji-hoo looked at his friend with a pathetic look for a moment and sighed.
“Are you really okay?”
When Kim Ji-hoo gestured slightly to Hwang Hae-kyung and asked, Lee Yoon-san smiled. It was a bright smile that didn’t seem to have even a little bit of worry. Then Hwang Hae-kyung, who was talking to Ham Se-jin, looked at Lee Yoon-san for a moment and took the pork skewer placed in front of Lee Yoon-san.
He broke off the end of the wooden skewer and put it back in front of Lee Yoon-san, and continued his conversation with Ham Se-jin as if nothing had happened. So that Lee Yoon-san could easily take out the skewer that he had already eaten more than half of.
“There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“…Okay. It looks like it.”
It’s a little creepy too. Kim Ji-hoo muttered those words exaggeratedly and looked at the broken skewer placed in front of Lee Yoon-san. Come to think of it, there were already several broken skewers in front of Hwang Hae-kyung. It was evidence that he had been repeating the same action every time Lee Yoon-san ate a black pork skewer.
“Hey, Hwang is too much. He’s only taking care of Yoon-san! I’ll do Ji-hoo and Soo-hyun’s! Give me the skewers!”
“Ah, it’s okay. I can take them out well from the side.”
“I’ve already eaten them all.”
When Lee Seok-jae saw that, he deliberately made a loud, playful noise, which only made Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun more embarrassed and they refused. Then, they immediately started talking about perilla leaves and peeling shrimp. It was already an outdated argument, but thanks to Lee Seok-jae naturally bringing up a light topic to lighten the mood, the conversation never stopped.
Meanwhile, Lee Yoon-san stared at Shin Soo-hyun, who had joined the ongoing conversation, picked at his meat, and glanced at Ham Se-jin, who was sitting nearby. Ham Se-jin, who had been glued to his phone even at the night market, was talking to Hwang Hae-kyung and eating pepperoni pizza. Judging by the unfamiliar names, it seemed to be news about the coaching staff he knew from his volleyball days.
Ham Se-jin occasionally exchanged a few words with Lee Seok-jae or Hwang Hae-kyung and chatted, but he was mostly quiet. And he didn’t have much conversation with Shin Soo-hyun either. There was nothing strange about it, but Lee Yoon-san was still a little concerned.
“Ah, Lee Yoon-san. Who’s the person who commented on your Insta?”
“Who? Don’t you know?”
“What do you mean you don’t know, you little punk? You don’t have any new Insta feeds, but you’re making it obvious you’ve been looking around.”
“Who… Ah.”
Lee Yoon-san glanced at Hwang Hae-kyung at Shin Soo-hyun’s words as he finished his skewers and cleaned up.
His account feed, which had already been slow and sporadic, had stopped a long time ago, and it had been a while since he left it for chatting with friends. But if someone came to that account and left a comment, there was only one person he could think of. It was Beta Choi Ga-ram, who he had told his SNS account to on the day he confessed to Hwang Hae-kyung.
So, when he stopped talking, Hwang Hae-kyung, who had taken the trash from Lee Yoon-san’s hand, made eye contact and tilted his head. He had a face that looked like he had a lot of questions to ask. Of course, he seemed to have heard Shin Soo-hyun’s words.
“I should have just punched him back then.”
“…Are you kidding? That’s not your personality.”
“Maybe.”
Hwang Hae-kyung answered lightly to Lee Yoon-san’s words and started walking to throw away the trash. And Lee Seok-jae burst into laughter as he watched Lee Yoon-san look at Hwang Hae-kyung’s back with a dumbfounded expression.
Apparently, the person involved didn’t know that Hwang Hae-kyung had beaten up a teammate because of him back in high school. Well, unless it was Hwang Hae-kyung, who was involved in the incident at the time, there was no one who would tell Lee Yoon-san about it. It was an incident that was quietly buried and passed by at school and in the team.
“Yoon-san.”
Still, Lee Seok-jae thought it was a problem that Lee Yoon-san only saw Hwang Hae-kyung as a gentle person, so he opened his mouth.
“Yes?”
“Later, you’re going to complain to your moms.”
“About… what?”
“Why they didn’t give you the option of an Alpha and made you meet a guy like that.”
“Yes?”
“You and Hwang were childhood friends, right? Hwang said he’s known you since you were born.”
“Ah…”
Lee Seok-jae’s words weren’t completely understandable, but roughly judging the nuance, it seemed to be about Hwang Hae-kyung. Come to think of it, he had heard that Hwang Hae-kyung cried when he saw him as a newborn. It was something the adults had told him a long time ago, but thinking about it again, it was absurd.
Why would you cry when you see a newborn? It’s not like you saw something you shouldn’t have? It wasn’t that he felt unpleasant about something that had already passed a long time ago, but he felt like joking around since he remembered it.
“Let’s go.”
When Lee Yoon-san stared at Hwang Hae-kyung, who had come back after throwing away the trash, Hwang Hae-kyung’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he made eye contact. The way he asked “Why?” with his mouth seemed to indicate that he had noticed the playfulness in Lee Yoon-san’s expression.
“I just remembered, why did you cry when you saw me when I was born?”
“Ah.”
When he asked as he walked with his friends towards the night market parking lot, Hwang Hae-kyung briefly made a troubled expression and put his arm around Lee Yoon-san’s shoulder. And he leaned his head slightly towards Lee Yoon-san and whispered in a low voice as if he wanted only him to hear.
“I was so moved that my boyfriend was born.”
“…Ah, don’t lie!!”
Lee Yoon-san’s face turned bright red in an instant at Hwang Hae-kyung’s words. Hwang Hae-kyung just smiled at Lee Yoon-san’s shout, and the friends walking ahead looked back at them with puzzled expressions.
And they left the arboretum night market and entered the summer night streets of Jeju Island once again. It was time to go home now.
✧✧✧
“……”
However, Lee Yoon-san’s expectation that he would have fun with his friends and return to the second house was completely wrong.
“Hey, Lee Yoon-san, why do you look like that? Are you not happy with us?”
“…No…”
“You look depressed? Why are you dragging out your words? Do you want to be alone with Hwang Hae-kyung?”
“You guys can’t call me by my name… call me Hyung.”
“Wow, seriously. You don’t call us Hyung!”
After leaving the night market, Lee Yoon-san arrived at a private pension town located in Gujwa-eup.
Knowing that his friends were staying at a hotel in Seogwipo, Lee Yoon-san and Hwang Hae-kyung were about to get into a separate car to go to Jeju City when Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun grabbed Lee Yoon-san and wouldn’t let him go. They dragged the embarrassed Lee Yoon-san into the rental car driven by Ham Se-jin, and Hwang Hae-kyung strode up to take Lee Yoon-san away, but eventually failed.
It was because Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun’s insistence on playing with Lee Yoon-san more was so strong. In fact, they had already planned this, and had already made a reservation at a private pension town known as a complex cultural space in Gujwa-eup. They had reserved a private pension at will, leaving behind the hotel room that Ham Se-jin had booked.
So, in the end, the three Alphas also decided to go to the private pension and stay overnight, following the twenty-year-old Omegas. Above all, Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo had deliberately booked a large private house with many rooms, so they suggested going together.
Don’t you guys trust us too much? Lee Seok-jae retorted to the twenty-year-old Omegas who suggested using a private house with three Alphas, but Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo seemed to completely trust the three Alphas now. The fact that nothing happened when they went hunting together and when they drank in the hotel room seemed to be the basis for that.
For Lee Yoon-san, Kim Ji-hoo’s attitude, which was wary of Alphas, was unexpected, but Kim Ji-hoo’s reaction was as if it was nothing new. In Kim Ji-hoo’s view, one of the three Alphas was crazy about Lee Yoon-san, another Alpha seemed to have already rejected Shin Soo-hyun, and the remaining Alpha didn’t seem to be desperate for an Omega.
Anyway, Hwang Hae-kyung had no intention of leaving Lee Yoon-san behind and going home, so he headed to the private pension without saying a word. Ham Se-jin didn’t seem to have any thoughts, and Lee Seok-jae seemed to be enjoying it, so the cohabitation, not cohabitation, of the three Alphas and three Omegas was decided in an instant.
‘Hey, is this real Love Signal? Are we going on a couple date?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘You son of a bitch. You succeeded in the final couple, so…’
Of course, in the process, there was a subtle conversation between Lee Seok-jae, who was quite excited, and Hwang Hae-kyung, who was half annoyed and half indifferent, but as a result, the final destination did not change.
But in the end, only the three Omegas and Ham Se-jin entered the private pension. It was because an alarm popped up on Hwang Hae-kyung’s phone app on the way to Gujwa-eup.
It was an alarm that someone had broken into Hwang Hae-kyung’s training center camping site. It was an alarm caused by camera movement and sensors, so it was necessary to go and check it himself. He could contact the company’s security personnel or the police stationed nearby, but Hwang Jun-won had returned himself to prevent such waste of manpower, right? In order not to use the company’s security personnel and police authority, whose schedules were already set, for personal purposes.
In the end, Hwang Hae-kyung had no choice but to turn the car around and head to Jeju City, where his house was, and in the process, Lee Yoon-san switched to Ham Se-jin’s car and Lee Seok-jae headed home with Hwang Hae-kyung.
As a result, Lee Yoon-san, Shin Soo-hyun, and Kim Ji-hoo were the first to arrive at the private pension and collapsed. Soon after, Ham Se-jin, who had finished parking, also came in, but soon went out again as if he had something to talk about on the phone.
Shin Soo-hyun looked at Ham Se-jin with a somewhat regretful expression, and Lee Yoon-san gave Shin Soo-hyun a long look before turning his head. He knew very well that unrequited love was embarrassing, but also embarrassing or shameful when others found out.
“…Se-jin Noona?”
Therefore, it was not Lee Yoon-san’s intention to come up to the rooftop space and run into Ham Se-jin. He had only come up there to wait for Hwang Hae-kyung while his friends took turns showering.
He wouldn’t have come up there if Hwang Hae-kyung hadn’t contacted him saying that it was nothing serious and that he was bringing back clothes for Lee Yoon-san to wear comfortably. He especially didn’t expect to run into Ham Se-jin smoking a cigarette on the rooftop.
“Noona, do you smoke?”
“Sometimes. What are you doing up instead of sleeping?”
“Uh… just, I’m going to wait for Hae-kyung.”
“He’s on his way?”
“Yes. He said he’s bringing clothes to change into, so I’m going to shower when Hae-kyung comes.”
The conversation with Ham Se-jin, which he thought would be awkward, continued quite naturally. Ham Se-jin seemed to be conscious of Lee Yoon-san, who was standing awkwardly near the entrance to the rooftop, so he put out his cigarette and blew away the smoke with his hand, and Lee Yoon-san didn’t go back down at Ham Se-jin’s actions and approached her.
“On the way, I told Lee Seok-jae to bring my clothes and the kids’ clothes too, so it’ll be a little later.”
“Yes. It’s okay.”
Ham Se-jin said, sending something by her phone, and put the cigarette case in her pocket. And Lee Yoon-san, who had come closer, looked up at her tall height and sat on a sunbed nearby. It seemed that this rooftop space was for sunbathing.
“Um…, Noona.”
“Yeah.”
“You have someone you like, right?”
Lee Yoon-san asked Ham Se-jin, who was standing on the edge of the rooftop overlooking the pool and staring blankly at the sky. It wasn’t exactly a meaningful topic of conversation. It wasn’t a question on behalf of Shin Soo-hyun either.
It was closer to a question he threw out casually because he remembered her not being able to put her phone down while hanging out with them. And Ham Se-jin stared down at Lee Yoon-san.
Then she smiled. It was a smile that was somewhat difficult to see for the first time.
“I do.”
Ham Se-jin, who was smiling awkwardly and rubbing her chin, admitted that it was something Lee Yoon-san had half expected and half unexpected. He had fully expected that she would have someone she liked, but he had never thought that she would reveal it so easily.
“Since we’re on the topic, should we have a conversation?”
“With me?”
“Yeah. Actually, I was quite curious about you.”
Ham Se-jin didn’t just give an answer to end the conversation, but continued, approaching Lee Yoon-san and sitting on the sunbed right next to him. As a result, Lee Yoon-san’s gaze, which had been fixed on the entrance of the pension town in the distance, turned to Ham Se-jin.
For Lee Yoon-san, the words coming out of her mouth and her current attitude were all unexpected, so he couldn’t help but be curious and intrigued.
“The day we met at the amusement park a long time ago, it seemed like Hwang Hae-kyung was anxious about you after that day.”
“Hae-kyung…?”
“I found out late because my training schedule was different, but Lee Seok-jae told me. He said he’s been glued to his phone, which he never used to do.”
Ham Se-jin’s next words were also unexpected, and Lee Yoon-san’s eyes widened. He had thought that he was the only one waiting for Hwang Hae-kyung’s call. Hwang Hae-kyung beyond SNS always seemed busy, and when he did call, he always spoke easily and simply.
No, in fact, Lee Yoon-san couldn’t picture Hwang Hae-kyung being anxious or waiting. Hwang Hae-kyung, who was a coveted athlete and seemed to have everything he could want, always seemed relaxed and used to only receiving.
Therefore, it was difficult for Lee Yoon-san to believe Ham Se-jin’s words that Hwang Hae-kyung had been glued to his phone to contact him. At the time, Hwang Hae-kyung’s popularity was higher than that of most celebrities, and on the days he played, his face and news were all over video streaming sites, communities, and even SNS.
On the other hand, Lee Yoon-san was an ordinary student at the time. He wasn’t someone who had made his face known through sports or extracurricular activities, and he was just quiet without actively building connections or standing out in school.
Lee Yoon-san happened to continue his relationship with Hwang Hae-kyung thanks to his mothers’ friendship, and Hwang Hae-kyung was a prominent athlete and had active external activities, so he was already immensely popular. Therefore, Lee Yoon-san got into the habit of killing any expectations while continuing to contact Hwang Hae-kyung and staying up all night with excitement. The visible difference between ordinary him and famous Hwang Hae-kyung was too clear.
He thought that Hwang Hae-kyung, who would be used to a splendid and noisy life as a child model and then as an athlete, would be nothing special to ordinary him.
But the words that came out of Ham Se-jin’s mouth sounded as if Hwang Hae-kyung had been treating him specially since that time, so his heart was pounding for no reason.
“Are you two dating now?”
Ham Se-jin asked, looking at Lee Yoon-san. She seemed to be bored with her hands and mouth, so she took out a cigarette, looked at Lee Yoon-san, and put the cigarette back on the side. Lee Yoon-san gestured to her that she could smoke, but Ham Se-jin shook her head and declined the offer.
“Uh… that’s right. Hae-kyung and, yes.”
“Actually, I’m in a similar situation to you guys. I like a friend I’ve known for a long time, me.”
“Ah…”
“She’s a Beta girl, and I’ve known her since I was fifteen. So I feel sorry for Soo-hyun for no reason.”
Ham Se-jin’s words had several meanings. It meant that she knew that Shin Soo-hyun was interested in her, that she felt sorry for not being able to accept it, and that she didn’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings by telling the truth to Lee Yoon-san, who was Shin Soo-hyun’s friend.
Perhaps it was because she knew that Lee Yoon-san was dating Hwang Hae-kyung. If their situations were similar, she might have wanted to refer to it, and she didn’t want to leave behind awkward misunderstandings with Lee Yoon-san, who was Shin Soo-hyun’s friend and Hwang Hae-kyung’s lover.
Lee Yoon-san just nodded in agreement. Shin Soo-hyun was his friend and Ham Se-jin couldn’t accept his friend’s heart, but he already knew very well that people’s hearts don’t work the way they want.
Besides, Ham Se-jin already had someone she had liked for a long time.
“Is the person you’ve been contacting the one you… like?”
“Yeah. I came to college and we used to see each other every day, so it’s the first time we’ve been apart like this.”
“Wow, then doesn’t that person like Noona too?”
“…Maybe.”
“Huh?”
Lee Yoon-san was the one who was dumbfounded when Ham Se-jin affirmed his words, which he had thrown out as a joke on purpose. If the person Ham Se-jin had liked for a long time also liked Ham Se-jin, shouldn’t they be dating? That’s what happened with me and Hae-kyung? Lee Yoon-san looked at Ham Se-jin with a puzzled expression, and Ham Se-jin burst into laughter when she saw Lee Yoon-san.
“You were thinking, ‘Then why aren’t you dating?’, right?”
“Uh… how did you know?”
“Your expression is really honest. Is that why Hwang Hae-kyung is acting so crazy?”
“Hae-kyung isn’t, he’s not like that, what are you talking about…”
“I kind of know why he thinks you’re cute.”
The Alpha bastards around here are all sly or dark, so it’s rare to see someone with such a transparent expression like you. Ham Se-jin added in a light tone, leaned comfortably on the sunbed, and stretched out her legs.
“I don’t think I can ask her to date me because it doesn’t seem right.”
“What…?”
“I’m an Alpha. The person I like is a Beta.”
“Why is that? You like each other anyway.”
Lee Yoon-san looked puzzled at Ham Se-jin’s next words.
Even if the same men or women have different secondary genders, there is no problem externally. Lee Yoon-san’s parents are also a couple made up of a female Alpha and a female Omega.
In the case of female Alphas, like male Omegas who have their Baby house restored during their Heat cycle, they undergo development and growth at the same time, with the restoration of internal reproductive organs and erectile tissue corresponding to the testicles. Moreover, since they are born with the Y chromosome, there is no problem with producing offspring. Lee Yoon-san was also born that way—however, in the case of female Alphas, the androgen receptor gene itself is a mutation, so they do not respond to the hormones produced by the restored testicles after the Heat cycle, maintaining their female appearance as they were born.—
Of course, it is rare for Alphas or Omegas to marry Betas, but there have been some cases. So, just as Lee Yoon-san was thinking, ‘What’s the problem?’, Ham Se-jin’s bitter voice was heard.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be okay for him.”
Lee Yoon-san couldn’t understand what he meant. However, he had a sense of déjà vu, as if he had heard Hwang Hae-kyung say something similar before.
“Betas are irrelevant to Pheromones.”
“Ah…”
And with Ham Se-jin’s following words, Lee Yoon-san sighed as if he finally understood.
Although he spoke indirectly, it was ultimately a story about Pheromone communication and the Heat cycle that resulted from it. The Alpha’s Heat cycle, the ‘Rut cycle,’ and the Omega’s Heat cycle, the ‘Heat cycle.’
The Heat cycle varies from person to person depending on hormone levels, but during this period, Alphas or Omegas experience symptoms similar to those of sex addicts if they do not take medication. The higher the hormone level, the longer the Heat cycle tends to be, and if they have a partner, they spend the entire time having sex, refusing food or sleep.
However, the bodies of ordinary Betas cannot keep up with the physical strength, and it is difficult to endure this Knotting act. It was not uncommon to hear stories of Betas being hospitalized due to ruptured or damaged reproductive organs after sexual intercourse with Alphas.
Therefore, when Alphas and Betas become couples, the Alpha usually reduces their Heat cycle with medication or undergoes a procedure to prevent Knotting.
“I’m afraid he’ll change because of me.”
In addition, when Second gendered beings and Betas meet, the most common reason for separation is Pheromone issues. Since Betas cannot feel Pheromones, they cannot distinguish even if Alphas or Omegas secretly release Pheromones or engage in infidelity.
Of course, there are definitely Second gendered beings and Beta couples who have overcome all these handicaps. Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents alone are a combination of Alpha and Beta. However, the reality is that such cases are very rare.
Even if there is a very close example, it also meant that Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents were a very rare and special case. It was such a rare case that no other examples came to mind.
Therefore, Lee Yoon-san could not add any words rashly. Above all, he was not a Beta himself.
“I can’t guarantee that I’ll be a safe partner for him. Even if I get the procedure for the Rut issue, it doesn’t solve the Heat cycle. And I’ve seen it quite a bit around me. Cases where they only develop paranoia towards the Beta while dating them and then break up.”
It was a common story. Even though it is very rare for Alphas and Betas to get married, there were quite a few stories of them dating online. Most of them were stories of Betas who were intoxicated by the Alpha’s appearance, and their endings were almost similar.
Either the Beta couldn’t withstand the Alpha’s Heat cycle and broke up, or they suspected and worried countless times that their Alpha would have Pheromone communication with an Omega and broke up. In both cases, the ending was not good for the Beta. Therefore, Ham Se-jin’s concerns were very valid.
But Lee Yoon-san saw Hwang Hae-kyung’s appearance overlapping in Ham Se-jin’s appearance.
‘I don’t know if I’m safe for you, not yet.’
Hwang Hae-kyung had certainly said that to him and was self-deprecating. Moreover, he was even taking medication just in case. What he was wary of seemed to be Pheromones, but since he only showed a drunken reaction to Lee Yoon-san’s Pheromones, it was highly likely that it was a problem related to Hwang Hae-kyung’s own Pheromones.
When he thought that far, Lee Yoon-san suddenly felt a surge of emotion. He didn’t like that self-deprecating and defensive attitude of talking about himself as if he were a dangerous being, and the line that was drawn because of it.
Chapter
“I came here to try and distance myself on purpose because I thought giving up was the right thing to do, but it’s not easy.”
“……”
“I unintentionally ended up making Soo-hyun feel bad, too.”
“But, Noona.”
That was why. Lee Yoon-san, who had been quietly listening to Ham Se-jin, opened his mouth with a slightly disgruntled voice. Because the current Ham Se-jin kept overlapping with his Hwang Hae-kyung.
“If you like each other, shouldn’t you listen to the other person’s opinion, too?”
“The other person’s opinion?”
“Yes. Deciding everything on your own and just worrying about it is a bit… too defensive, isn’t it?”
Then nothing will come of it. Lee Yoon-san added, looking dejected. So Ham Se-jin didn’t express any displeasure at Lee Yoon-san’s words.
The way Lee Yoon-san spoke made it seem like he was talking about his own problem, not meddling in Ham Se-jin’s affairs, and his face looked so sad.
“What if you tell Hye-yoon everything and listen to her opinion? Would that change anything?”
“……”
“If I say to someone who already likes me, ‘I’m actually worried about this and that, so I’m hesitant to be with you,’ wouldn’t that just be forcing them to understand and excuse me?”
So Ham Se-jin quietly voiced what was on his mind. Lee Yoon-san’s expression looked like a puppy that had been caught in the rain, dejected and sad, so he just quietly revealed his inner thoughts in a low voice. It was also a question directly related to the anxiety that Ham Se-jin always had.
Even if you tell the person who likes you about the problems, they will try to endure or solve them. It would be good if trying to solve them actually solved them, but most realistic problems lead to endurance rather than solutions.
Ham Se-jin was anxious and afraid that the person he liked would try to bear the worries and problems. That they would try to endure his Heat cycle, and endure the anxiety of a Beta being excluded from Pheromone communication. That they would get tired and fester. Or that they would resent and hate him, or break down themselves.
That was a risk that wouldn’t exist in a relationship that never started.
“But, Noona… relationships are something you do together, right?”
Lee Yoon-san spoke to Ham Se-jin, who was sighing bitterly. He seemed to fully understand what Ham Se-jin was worried about, and he made clear eye contact with a voice and tone that had become a little more polite.
“It’s not about one person protecting the other from getting hurt, it’s just about liking each other and making concessions little by little, being greedy, and adjusting to each other. That’s what human relationships and dating are.”
“……”
“And it’s only possible if you really like them, and it’s not something you do with someone who can be easily replaced by someone else, it’s because it has to be that person… because you can’t have anyone else but that person… that’s why you date…”
Lee Yoon-san’s voice sounded as comfortable as if he were reading a book. So Ham Se-jin couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Yoon-san’s clear eyes.
Lee Yoon-san’s face, with his quite determined eyes and firm expression, was different from what it had been just a few minutes ago. Instead of a face that looked endlessly shy or dejected like a puppy caught in the rain, the expression of a twenty-year-old boy who clearly and distinctly conveyed what he was thinking was refreshing yet mature.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you could share your worries, whether it’s understanding or enduring?”
“……”
“I think I’d want that opportunity if I were them. If I made a conclusion on my own and had a hard time, I think I’d think about myself later when I found out. Like, did I not give them enough trust, or were they not strong enough to overcome that caution. Something like that.”
“This isn’t the other person’s problem, it’s because they’re too precious that I can’t recklessly be greedy.”
Because I’m afraid I’ll ruin it with my own hands. Ham Se-jin said with a bitter expression and then closed his mouth.
“I just meant that I don’t want you to be upset on your own without me knowing. If you put yourself in their shoes, you’d be upset if that Noona was worried and upset on her own and then gave up, right?”
If it’s something that would upset me if I were in their position, it will upset them too. Because they’re someone I like. Lee Yoon-san finished speaking and smiled brightly. It was a smile that seemed to lighten the serious atmosphere even a little.
Ham Se-jin stared at Lee Yoon-san’s face for a long time. It was as if Lee Yoon-san had said the words that he most wanted to hear from Sung Hye-yoon. It was as if he had given some motivation to his lingering feelings, which had been neither here nor there, unable to let go of his contact with Sung Hye-yoon even after coming all the way down to Jeju Island, and had given him a push.
“…I can kind of understand why Hwang Hae-kyung was like that.”
“Yes?”
So those words unintentionally flowed from Ham Se-jin’s mouth as he blankly looked at Lee Yoon-san. It wasn’t a word he had intentionally uttered, but it wasn’t a slip of the tongue either.
It was just an exclamation that came out at the moment he understood Hwang Hae-kyung’s behavior, which he had thought was unlike him until now. Then, Ham Se-jin suddenly felt the urge to meddle. He didn’t know if it was because he had a great personal liking for Lee Yoon-san, or because he had deeply sympathized with the conversation just now.
However, it was clear that he wanted to do something unlike himself, so he looked at Lee Yoon-san and opened his mouth in a low voice.
“I think I know why Hwang Hae-kyung was so obsessed with you that he lived with his phone in his hand.”
“Ugh… what, why are you saying that, all of a sudden.”
“To be honest, I couldn’t understand why he was clinging to someone he couldn’t even see for years. It’s not like it’s a virtual romance, what kind of great loyalty is he trying to keep. He had to wait another year even after entering a stable period.”
“……”
“But I guess it was worth it.”
He must really like you a lot, really. Ham Se-jin made Lee Yoon-san embarrassed and rambled on with incomprehensible words like a soliloquy, and then let out a sigh-like breath. After that, Ham Se-jin quietly stared at Lee Yoon-san, who had a bright red face, for a long time, and also told silly stories. Mostly stories about the girl he liked.
Until Hwang Hae-kyung’s car, which had gone to Jeju City, returned, the two had a fairly comfortable and slow conversation.
✧✧✧
In the end, they had to spend the rest of the night with a drinking party.
And the next day, Ham Se-jin was the first of the group to leave Jeju and head to Seoul. Lee Yoon-san had expected it, and Shin Soo-hyun seemed to have heard about it in advance while drinking the night before, so her reaction was indifferent.
The remaining group went to a restaurant run by a female diver nearby for a meal. Since it was a restaurant with more locals than tourists, all the menus were rustic seafood-based dishes, and there were some things that the twenty and twenty-one-year-olds were trying for the first time.
So it became an experience of being amazed by each menu.
“I thought you only ate this kind of thing when you came with your moms.”
Lee Yoon-san, who didn’t know the taste of sea urchin roe and sea pineapple yet, said as he tasted this and that, curious about the things he was trying for the first time. And that was the same for Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo as well. Surprisingly, it was Hwang Hae-kyung, who looked like he had picky tastes, who ate everything well without being picky. But it didn’t seem like there was a menu that he particularly liked.
And Lee Seok-jae generally liked the expensive menus. He liked sea pineapple more than regular sea squirt, sea urchin seaweed soup more than turban shell seaweed soup, and Dokdo shrimp more than mantis shrimp.
“There wasn’t anything wrong at the camping site, right?”
As they were finishing their meal to satisfy their curiosity, Lee Yoon-san asked as if he had just remembered. Last night, they had only heard the news that ‘nothing much happened’ because they were changing clothes and having a drink. Above all, Lee Seok-jae and Hwang Hae-kyung’s attitudes were no different from usual.
But as Lee Yoon-san, who knew that an outsider had trespassed on the camping site, he needed to hear more details to feel relieved.
“I went because the sensor alarm went off, but there wasn’t anything. There were no traces of trash or anything else.”
“Was it a stray dog that came in? I heard there are a lot of stray dogs in Jeju Island.”
“It could have been.”
Hwang Hae-kyung nodded indifferently at Lee Seok-jae’s words, who had finished rinsing his mouth with water next to him.
Last night, they had returned to Jeju City due to an external intrusion alarm, but unlike before, there were no traces of the outsider left. Considering the detection range of the sensor, it couldn’t have been a small stray cat, so there was a possibility that a person had approached and ran away, or that a fairly large stray dog had been detected coming and going.
They had increased the security detection sensors due to the traces of unauthorized entry by a person. Security had become tighter as a result, but it was inevitable that misjudgments would occur as a result. Anyway, Hwang Jun-won said that when he returned from camping, he would call employees from Seoul to repair the external area security system or increase the security personnel in Jeju, so Hwang Hae-kyung only had to pay attention to this short period of time.
“It’s not all good just because you have land. Unauthorized intrusion, in this day and age of civil lawsuits.”
“It’s because it’s a tourist destination.”
Hwang Hae-kyung replied indifferently to Lee Seok-jae’s lament and got up to pay for the meal.
As he said, Jeju Island was the most famous tourist destination in Korea, and it was currently the peak season. Therefore, accidents such as unauthorized intrusion into the camping site were bound to happen.
Camping enthusiasts flocked to Jeju, but the space for them to pitch their tents was already fully booked or required a fairly high cost. Of course, that didn’t mean that they could use someone else’s private property without permission.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Then is Lee Yoon-san buying coffee now?”
“No, Lee Yoon-san’s boyfriend is.”
Hwang Hae-kyung replied indifferently to Kim Ji-hoo and Shin Soo-hyun’s words as they left the restaurant. Then Lee Yoon-san’s ears turned red, and the jeers of his surrounding friends followed. Shin Soo-hyun, who had initially been unfamiliar and difficult with Hwang Hae-kyung, and Kim Ji-hoo, who had been dissatisfied, had also gradually eased their wariness since yesterday. They were even making playful reactions.
The group spent about two more days touring the tourist attractions. Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo wouldn’t let go of Lee Yoon-san, and as a result, Hwang Hae-kyung seemed to be caught up with them as well. Lee Seok-jae seemed to find the situation funny and just went along without saying anything.
However, there was a slight conflict of opinion when it came to sleeping arrangements, and it seemed that Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Seok-jae had become somewhat comfortable, because Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo wouldn’t let Lee Yoon-san go even at night.
The two had decided to spend about a week longer in Jeju Island, and had already roughly planned their tourist itinerary for that period and had even made accommodation reservations to match their route. And, of course, they included Lee Yoon-san in their tourist plans.
Of course, Hwang Hae-kyung had no objections to that. He wanted to be holed up in a room with Lee Yoon-san, but he knew that he couldn’t monopolize Lee Yoon-san when his friends were there.
But he couldn’t help but frown at the suggestion that they would all sleep together. Lee Yoon-san looked embarrassed by his friends’ demands, but he still seemed reluctant to refuse outright. Therefore, Hwang Hae-kyung had no choice but to give up Lee Yoon-san.
Lee Yoon-san’s friends found it both amazing and funny to see Lee Yoon-san struggling between them and his lover, but Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t want to see him struggling for long, so that was the conclusion they came to.
In the end, Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san had to leave their perfectly good Jeju house and solve their sleeping arrangements at an accommodation with their friends. The group toured various places in Jeju during the day, eating delicious food, and at night, they split up into Omegas and Alphas and used the hotel rooms.
“Did you sleep well, Hae-kyung?”
And then morning dawned again. Lee Yoon-san, who had packed his bags in the hotel room he was sharing with his friends, greeted Hwang Hae-kyung, and then Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo’s voices were heard checking if they had forgotten anything for the last time.
“Hae-kyung, ugh…?!”
So Hwang Hae-kyung instinctively picked up Lee Yoon-san and opened the door to the emergency staircase area. It was close to an instinctive act before Lee Yoon-san’s friends could come out of the door.
“What, what’s wrong? Why all of a sudden…?!”
Hwang Hae-kyung, who had entered the emergency staircase area, put Lee Yoon-san down on the floor and pinned him against the wall, grabbing both cheeks and kissing him urgently.
They had been secretly kissing while hanging out with their friends, but it had been a long time since they had kissed this deeply. It was because they didn’t easily get a chance to be alone.
“Hng, uh….”
Lee Yoon-san, whose face was firmly held and whose mouth was being invaded, let out a small groan as his expression crumbled. Then Hwang Hae-kyung, for some reason, briefly pulled his head away and briefly overlapped his lips as if to appease him.
As he kept stamping his lips with kisses as if he were acting cute, Hwang Hae-kyung’s lips were pressed against Lee Yoon-san’s lips and fell away. Lee Yoon-san’s dry lips became moist each time the kiss stamps continued, and his eyes finally widened at the series of cute kisses. Hwang Hae-kyung engraved Lee Yoon-san’s expression in his eyes and kissed him again softly and deeply.
Hwang Hae-kyung’s tongue, which had entered Lee Yoon-san’s mouth that had been blankly opened, moved as if playing with Lee Yoon-san’s tongue and then brushed against the frenulum. At that, Lee Yoon-san felt a dizzying heat rising from his toes and carefully hugged Hwang Hae-kyung’s waist to press his body close.
Hwang Hae-kyung released his grip on Lee Yoon-san’s face at the moment Lee Yoon-san hugged him, and hot breaths slowly passed between their twisted and tightly pressed lips, sharing their breaths.
“Are you going to keep sleeping with your friends?”
Hwang Hae-kyung, who had been kissing deeply for a long time, pulled his head away slightly and asked, making eye contact. Lee Yoon-san stared at Hwang Hae-kyung with dazed eyes, then focused his eyes and hesitated to answer.
Lee Yoon-san also wanted to be with him, but it was difficult to ignore his friends. First of all, he had called them all the way to Jeju, and he didn’t want to push his friends aside just because he had a lover.
Besides, he belatedly remembered that he had said something nonsensical when he had done the deed with Hwang Hae-kyung during the day, and he still felt ashamed every time he thought about it.
Back then, when they were lying on the island and sharing skinship like crazy, what had he said to Hwang Hae-kyung, who hadn’t even inserted it?
‘Yoon-san, what if I Knotting?’
‘Uh… ah, no….’
‘No? Why not?’
‘You can’t… Baby… a Baby will be born….’
It was nonsense that he had said because his whole body, as well as his mentality, was hazy, and he had only understood the word ‘Knotting’. It would have been nice if he had forgotten what he had said in a state of mental and physical weakness, but the fact that he hadn’t made Lee Yoon-san feel miserable.
In particular, when he lay down to sleep, the memory of that time would suddenly come to mind as if a strange switch had been pressed, and every time that part came to mind, he had to tremble all over his body with shame. Thanks to that, he was spending nights fussing alone instead of falling asleep.
“I-I think I should….”
So Lee Yoon-san rolled his eyes to avoid his gaze and gave an answer as if it wasn’t his intention. Then Hwang Hae-kyung’s eyebrows furrowed immediately.
“Me.”
“Huh?”
“When are you going to sleep with me?”
Hwang Hae-kyung said that and bent his big body to rub his forehead against Lee Yoon-san’s shoulder. At that, Lee Yoon-san’s ears and face turned completely red.
In fact, Lee Yoon-san was looking forward to sleeping with Hwang Hae-kyung, but he was also a little scared. Even though they hadn’t had proper sex, the skinship he had shared with Hwang Hae-kyung was all he remembered being sticky, thick, and sensual. Besides, Lee Yoon-san himself couldn’t maintain his sanity during those acts.
In other words, he felt dazed as if he had taken drugs, and it was an experience where the threshold of pleasure he had known in his life went up without knowing the end. So Lee Yoon-san was a little scared of that pleasure and haziness without moderation. It wasn’t a vague burden or fear about sexual activity. It wasn’t innocence in that sense, but an emotion closer to fear of the unknown that he hadn’t experienced.
Or it was the last hesitation of someone who had encountered a temptation so strong that he wondered, ‘Is it really okay to do this?’ It was also a feeling of being tested. Whatever it was, the first time learning about an unknown intensity was bound to be accompanied by worry and betrayal.
Until now, the maximum pleasure in Lee Yoon-san’s life had been wet dreams, masturbation, or a few drinks, but in the skinship he had with Hwang Hae-kyung, that upper limit kept soaring, and he was in a position closer to being led by Hwang Hae-kyung.
To be frank, I was a little scared of how far Hwang Hae-kyung would go. And I was already worried about how I would react, being mindlessly swayed and reacting to such Hwang Hae-kyung. I was worried about what embarrassing things I would say to him again.
So, under the guise of being with friends, I kept hesitating.
“When the kids leave…”
“It would look terrible to force them to leave right away, wouldn’t it?”
“…No, that’s a bit much for them…”
“I know.”
I won’t do that. Hwang Hae-kyung said, meeting Lee Yoon-san’s eyes. Seeing the hazel eyes looking at him so tenderly, Lee Yoon-san’s expression naturally softened.
“Um… Hae-kyung.”
“Yeah.”
“When the kids leave, let’s tell each other about that later. That… cycle, that.”
Lee Yoon-san whispered, his voice fading out as he avoided eye contact, seemingly embarrassed and ashamed. As if it were a secret proposal.
The period and duration of the Heat cycle vary from person to person. Therefore, sharing that period also meant sharing a very personal and intimate secret. It also subtly implied spending the Heat cycle together, knowing the timing in advance.
Therefore, a gasp of laughter escaped Hwang Hae-kyung’s lips, having understood the meaning at once.
“Okay. I have something to say too.”
“Something to say? It’s not bad news, is it?”
“No, nothing like that. I just feel like I should apologize properly.”
“Apologize?”
“For suddenly cutting off contact two years ago.”
Hwang Hae-kyung’s words, uttered with a bitter smile, were so unexpected that Lee Yoon-san’s eyes widened. It was a topic he had avoided answering when I asked him about it. So Lee Yoon-san didn’t ask further and let it pass.
Above all, after confirming each other’s feelings and being so busy, I had inwardly thought I would only hear about it in the distant future. Wasn’t it a huge event, quitting the sport he was at the peak of his career in? So I figured there would be that much hurt left.
Besides, in the past few days, there hadn’t been a single unclear part in Hwang Hae-kyung’s actions towards me. Not in his attitude, his actions, or even the expressions he showed moment by moment, or a single word he said. He had even said the words that cemented his relationship with Lee Yoon-san.
So I had let the topic pass, hoping not to rashly touch the wound right away. Although that didn’t mean that Hwang Hae-kyung’s actions two years ago were understandable or that the sudden cutoff of contact wasn’t hurtful to Lee Yoon-san himself, I thought I could grant a postponement.
Because Hwang Hae-kyung’s attitude towards Lee Yoon-san was very firm.
But Hwang Hae-kyung brought up the topic again first.
“Okay.”
So Lee Yoon-san smiled happily and accepted Hwang Hae-kyung’s confession. Hoping that when he was fully prepared and talking to me, he could comfortably open up his heart.
✧✧✧
Another three days passed. Lee Yoon-san still had to share a room with his friends, and Hwang Hae-kyung, frowning as if dissatisfied, still booked a room next to Lee Yoon-san’s. Along with Lee Seok-jae, who was giggling about something so funny. And two more days passed, and finally, something happened that was bound to burst Hwang Hae-kyung’s patience.
“Hello.”
“Oh…?”
When Lee Yoon-san’s walking had improved quite a bit, he ran into Choi Ga-ram at Iho Tewoo Beach, one of Jeju’s snorkeling spots. The very same guy who had gotten Lee Yoon-san’s account a few days ago.
“Did you come to snorkel?”
“Uh… not me, my friends.”
“You?”
“I hurt my foot.”
“Foot? When did you hurt it? How did it happen?”
A hectic conversation went back and forth. Hwang Hae-kyung and the group were watching Lee Yoon-san and Choi Ga-ram, but everyone seemed hesitant to join the conversation because they didn’t know who Choi Ga-ram was. Among them, only Hwang Hae-kyung was frowning and looking at Choi Ga-ram, which made Lee Yoon-san feel self-conscious and continue the conversation.
“I got hurt as soon as I came to Jeju… I was already hurt when I came.”
“Really? Ah, it was too dark there, and I couldn’t see your feet, so I guess I didn’t know. Is your foot okay?”
“It’s okay. It seems much better now…”
“Ah. That guy from the other day.”
The conversation was cut off by Hwang Hae-kyung’s voice. He interrupted the conversation with a subtle tone, as if he had just remembered Choi Ga-ram, and the eyes of Lee Yoon-san, the group, and Choi Ga-ram turned to Hwang Hae-kyung.
Then, Hwang Hae-kyung took off the cap he was wearing and ruffled his hair once to fix it. His eyes were still on Choi Ga-ram.
“Oh, it’s athlete Hwang Hae-kyung.”
“It’s been a while since I retired, so why ‘athlete’?”
When Choi Ga-ram recognized Hwang Hae-kyung’s face as soon as he took off his hat and greeted him with a smile, Hwang Hae-kyung gave a prickly response. Then Lee Yoon-san gave an awkward smile. I was going to introduce Hwang Hae-kyung to Choi Ga-ram naturally and say ‘we’re dating’ for the first time, but I didn’t get the timing. Lee Yoon-san was still clumsy at catching these timings.
Besides, Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression next to him was very sullen. So Lee Yoon-san, stuck in the middle, awkwardly laughed and poked Hwang Hae-kyung’s arm, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression didn’t soften at all.
“Did you come to play with your friends?”
Choi Ga-ram, who lightly brushed off the indifferent reaction, asked Lee Yoon-san again. As if conscious of the friends standing next to Lee Yoon-san and Hwang Hae-kyung and looking at him.
And he naturally continued the greetings and small talk. It was amazing how he showed his sociability without being shy, as he said he was a surfing instructor.
Besides, he was wearing surfing swim trunks and a rash guard that came down to his knees, and his upper body muscles were prominent even over the tight rash guard. So it was only natural that Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo’s eyes turned to him.
Judging by the stories about what kind of exercise he does, whether he has a separate workout routine, and what kind of training programs professional surfers have, Lee Seok-jae, who is also a former athlete, seemed quite interested in Choi Ga-ram’s muscles.
Hwang Hae-kyung was just standing there, watching them as if observing, and Lee Yoon-san, who was standing awkwardly among the group, slowly approached Hwang Hae-kyung and poked his arm with his shoulder.
“I didn’t say anything bad…”
Then, because that’s what he said again, Hwang Hae-kyung laughed in embarrassment, feeling half ‘absurd’ and half ‘cute in the midst of this’. It seemed that he was bothered by the fact that Hwang Hae-kyung had said, ‘I should have hit him,’ about Choi Ga-ram, who kept sending signals to Lee Yoon-san’s SNS a few days ago.
“You have to stand so that the sole of your foot doesn’t get pressed.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t look at me for approval.”
“Uh… huh?”
It’s not your fault that his taste is the same as mine. Hwang Hae-kyung said in a nonchalant tone and grabbed Lee Yoon-san’s arm to check if he was doing the weight shift properly. On the other hand, Lee Yoon-san, who was bombarded with a sudden comment, couldn’t help but blush, because he didn’t know how to react whenever Hwang Hae-kyung said things like that.
Meanwhile, regardless of their situation, Lee Seok-jae and Choi Ga-ram, Shin Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-hoo, who were talking among themselves, all turned their eyes to Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san. As if they had something to say.
“Let’s learn surfing instead of snorkeling!”
“Choi Ga-ram said he’ll teach us for free!”
And at Lee Seok-jae and Shin Soo-hyun’s words that followed, Hwang Hae-kyung’s expression crumpled as if he was displeased.
In the end, the group’s beach schedule was changed from snorkeling to surfing. Since everyone except Lee Yoon-san and Hwang Hae-kyung had packed their swimsuits with the intention of snorkeling anyway, the group immediately moved to the beach where the surfing lessons were being held and were able to receive surfing lessons from Choi Ga-ram and his colleague.
Of course, Lee Yoon-san, who had hurt his foot, and Hwang Hae-kyung, who didn’t seem very interested in surfing, volunteered to sit at the parasol table on the beach and watch their friends receive surfing lessons from Choi Ga-ram and his colleague.
‘How can he not smile even once?’
Lee Yoon-san thought, looking at Hwang Hae-kyung, who had the same expression for the past few days while hanging out with his friends. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hide that he really wasn’t interested in anything.
He had the same expression when he ate something delicious, and he had a very lukewarm expression when he got in the car following the group who were moving to snorkel. And it was the same now that he was here. The only time he made a different expression was when he was alone with Lee Yoon-san or when he was secretly holding hands with Lee Yoon-san and taking a walk.
Even then, the only opportunities were short, such as walking the Olle Trail with friends to digest after eating, or secretly sneaking out at night and walking the nearby trails alone.
But on the contrary, that’s why it was even better. Secretly holding hands while hanging out with friends, and sneaking out separately for a short walk alone, made me feel like a campus couple who had secretly snuck out of MT.
It wasn’t that Lee Seok-jae or Lee Yoon-san’s friends were giving them the side-eye for their affection, but Lee Yoon-san felt awkward and embarrassed to openly show affection or PDA in front of his friends, so that’s what happened. Even though the friends already knew each other, they secretly held hands or snuck out separately to make time for themselves.
And Hwang Hae-kyung was just following Lee Yoon-san’s words obediently. He really didn’t want to see Lee Yoon-san in trouble, for that one reason alone.
“It’s a shame. If only my foot wasn’t hurt.”
“Then would you learn surfing from him?”
“Huh?”
At Lee Yoon-san’s words that came out while watching his friends taking lessons from Choi Ga-ram with surfboards on the beach, Hwang Hae-kyung, who was sitting next to him and looking at the same place with a lukewarm face, asked. Then Lee Yoon-san was startled and turned to look at him. I said it because I felt like Hwang Hae-kyung had to sit still because of me, but it seemed like he had misunderstood something.
On the other hand, when Hwang Hae-kyung met Lee Yoon-san’s eyes, he smiled playfully and raised his hand on the table so that his palm was visible and said.
“Don’t do it.”
Then he shook his hand on the table a few times. As if asking to hold his hand.
“I’m jealous.”
At Hwang Hae-kyung’s quiet and short words that followed, Lee Yoon-san’s face turned red. He rolled his eyes around, embarrassed and ashamed, and then placed his hand on top of Hwang Hae-kyung’s palm. Then Hwang Hae-kyung intertwined his fingers as if it were natural.
“…I’m not really interested in surfing.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
As if not knowing what to do with his straightforward expression of his feelings, Lee Yoon-san quietly muttered without even making eye contact. Then Hwang Hae-kyung accepted his words with short words as usual.
Even though the words they were sharing weren’t anything special, I felt a tickling sensation in my heart. Just making eye contact and having everyday and slightly childish conversations made my heart flutter like crazy. Above all, it was new and amazing that Hwang Hae-kyung, who usually acted indifferent, sometimes expressed his feelings with straightforward words.
I didn’t know that Hwang Hae-kyung was the kind of person who could say those things when we were exchanging DMs.
Just as they were about to have more of a conversation, they felt someone approaching from over there.
It seemed that they had told them all the surfing tips, and Choi Ga-ram and his colleague were approaching this way.
“Aren’t you two bored?”
Then Choi Ga-ram, who quickly approached, asked with a refreshing smile. Choi Ga-ram’s colleague also had a smiling expression and a friendly attitude, and she was also a surfer who gave surfing lessons with Choi Ga-ram.
“You’re athlete Hwang Hae-kyung, right?”
“Yeah, well.”
“Wow, it’s so nice to meet you. Actually, I used to play volleyball too. I’m Kim Sun-min.”
The instructor, who was Choi Ga-ram’s colleague, introduced herself politely and held out her hand to Hwang Hae-kyung, but Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t bother to shake hands.
I wondered why she had followed Choi Ga-ram’s lessons, which were close to unpaid labor, to help, but it seemed that she wanted to meet Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Seok-jae. She had recognized Lee Seok-jae first and greeted him while giving surfing lessons with Choi Ga-ram.
“Noona, you used to play volleyball?”
“Yeah. I was playing volleyball for a while and then switched to beach volleyball.”
“Wow, I didn’t know. So that’s why you came along?”
When Choi Ga-ram, who had taken out bottled water that was placed under the parasol and took a sip, said, Kim Sun-min smiled and nodded. She was a person with a refreshing smile and healthy tanned skin, befitting her job as a surfer.
“Ah, Yoon-san doesn’t know what I’m talking about. This Noona was actually a beach volleyball player and is now working as a surfer.”
“I see…”
“I knew it was suspicious from the moment you offered to help. You had ulterior motives.”
“When else would I get to see an Olympic medalist in person?”
Choi Ga-ram and Kim Sun-min were good at talking even if Hwang Hae-kyung, the subject of the conversation, showed an indifferent reaction. Lee Yoon-san looked at them with curious eyes, and Kim Sun-min, who had been talking to each other for a while and made eye contact with Lee Yoon-san, made a different suggestion first.
“Aren’t you bored just sitting there? Do you want to play beach volleyball? I have a ball!”
“Uh… but I hurt my foot.”
“Hey, that’s why I’m suggesting it. It’s okay to move around a little, so didn’t you come to snorkel? It seems like the balance would be about right if athlete Hwang Hae-kyung, who used to be on the national volleyball team, and Yoon-san were on the same team.”
It was a suggestion to play beach volleyball in a 2-on-2 match. The friends had just dragged their surfboards into the sea, so it would take quite a while for them to come out. In the meantime, Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san would team up and the surfers would team up to play a game.
At the suggestion, Lee Yoon-san glanced at Hwang Hae-kyung, who was sitting next to him. Hwang Hae-kyung still hadn’t let go of Lee Yoon-san’s hand and had a nonchalant expression, but he didn’t seem to like Kim Sun-min’s suggestion. In fact, Lee Yoon-san didn’t consider doing a little exercise itself as a problem. When I was in middle school, I suffered from stomachaches, but I would take medicine and run to the playground to play soccer as soon as I felt a little better.
Besides, due to the characteristics of Second gendered beings, who have good recovery, I had just removed the stitches on the sole of my foot yesterday, and now the limping wasn’t very noticeable. The pain in the wound area had also decreased a lot, so the movement itself wasn’t a burden.
On the other hand, Kim Sun-min was showing her desire to play a game with Hwang Hae-kyung at least once with her expression. Choi Ga-ram, who was watching the scene from the side, just smiled ambiguously, and then rolled his eyes to look at Lee Yoon-san and Hwang Hae-kyung’s hands and asked with a puzzled expression.
“But are you two dating?”
“Yes!”
At the question that was asked as if he was flustered, Lee Yoon-san strongly affirmed, thinking that this was the time to do it. It was an action that came from a happy heart, thinking that the opportunity to naturally reveal his relationship with Hwang Hae-kyung had come.
On the other hand, Choi Ga-ram frowned and smiled at Lee Yoon-san’s affirmation and opened his mouth again.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t have a partner at that pub?”
“Uh… we weren’t dating at the time… but…”
“I’m sorry if I confused you.”
When Lee Yoon-san gave a difficult answer to Choi Ga-ram’s question, which was a bit like he was pressing him, Hwang Hae-kyung, who was watching from the side, cut him off. Then Choi Ga-ram’s eyes turned to Hwang Hae-kyung, and a subtle atmosphere was created in an instant.
Kim Sun-min crossed her arms with an expression that she found the changed atmosphere interesting, but her eyes were fixed on Hwang Hae-kyung.
“You’re saying that you didn’t have a partner when I talked to you, and then things went well after that?”
On the other hand, Choi Ga-ram was still asking questions to Lee Yoon-san. It was a slightly more demanding tone than the soft tone he had been using so far.
At that, Lee Yoon-san nodded, saying that was right, and Hwang Hae-kyung took Lee Yoon-san’s hand as it was and brought it to his thigh and placed it there. He tilted his head and looked at Choi Ga-ram.
“So you’ve only been dating for a few days.”
And at Choi Ga-ram’s words that followed, which were like a monologue, a short laugh burst out of Hwang Hae-kyung’s mouth as if he was dumbfounded. However, Choi Ga-ram didn’t care about Hwang Hae-kyung’s reaction and opened his mouth again.
This time, it was a word to Hwang Hae-kyung.
“Since you don’t have anything to do anyway, let’s play beach volleyball 2-on-2 as Noona said? Sun-min Noona has been saying since earlier that she wants to play a game with athlete Hwang Hae-kyung.”
“You want to go up against me now too?”
“…Yoon-san said he hurt his foot, so it would be a handicap. Beach volleyball is originally a game played by two people.”
“Huh? But I heard that Noona was a beach volleyball player. It’s been two years since Hae-kyung quit exercising, and beach volleyball and regular volleyball are different sports…”
“Yeah.”
Choi Ga-ram spoke as if challenging him, and Lee Yoon-san spoke with concern, but Hwang Hae-kyung cut him off again and gave an answer. Then, Kim Sun-min, who had been watching the conversation, visibly showed her delight.
However, Lee Yoon-san frowned and looked at Hwang Hae-kyung. He didn’t know much about the sport of beach volleyball, but he knew that volleyball and beach volleyball had different rules. So, he knew that the game operation itself would be different.
Besides, he was worried about how suddenly the conversation was progressing. It was a game decided before Lee Yoon-san could even grasp the atmosphere and situation, and suddenly, he was in a situation where he had to exercise with an injured foot. In a 2-on-2 game, being on the same team as him was a really big handicap for Hwang Hae-kyung.
“Hae-kyung, is it okay for me to join?”
“You don’t want to be on a team with me?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that I’m a real handicap. I want to play together, but… I’m afraid I’ll just be a hindrance.”
“Then do it. You’re not a handicap. You can just stand there like last time.”
Hwang Hae-kyung said that to Lee Yoon-san, who was whispering worriedly, and got up from his seat. Thanks to that, Lee Yoon-san, who had been holding his hand, also got up from his seat, and Kim Sun-min, who was watching them, said to Lee Yoon-san in a cool tone.
“That’s right, it’s just a handicap in name only. We have to balance it out when we’re up against a former Olympic gold medalist volleyball player.”
Lee Yoon-san looked dismayed at Kim Sun-min’s words. He wanted to refuse, but Hwang Hae-kyung had already agreed, and to be honest, it was a bit much to just sit and wait for his friends to come out of the sea. Hwang Hae-kyung seemed to be thinking about the time they played with the blanket as a net, and he seemed worried that Lee Yoon-san would feel left out. Above all, Lee Yoon-san also had the will to participate.
And in fact, Lee Yoon-san was also secretly piqued. He had unintentionally spent his middle and high school life full of only male students, so he didn’t take things seriously unless there was visible pain. Omega or whatever, except for a few restrictions and stomachaches, Lee Yoon-san had grown up just like any other boy. Rather, Hwang Hae-kyung had been the one to make a fuss about it.
If it were just Hwang Hae-kyung and him, he wouldn’t have worried about the time passing, but if he had to be with Choi Ga-ram, whose attitude seemed to have subtly changed, and Kim Sun-min, who was showing interest in Hwang Hae-kyung, things would have to be a little different.
In fact, Kim Sun-min and Choi Ga-ram said that, but they weren’t expecting anything from Lee Yoon-san in the game. There were no set positions in beach volleyball, so it was just a formality. It meant that they were just filling the numbers and essentially playing a 1:2 game against Hwang Hae-kyung. It would be unfamiliar for Lee Yoon-san to referee, and although he had injured his foot, they judged that it wasn’t serious since he had come to the beach to snorkel. In colloquial terms, he was just there to make up the numbers. After all, Hwang Hae-kyung would be running all over the court, so he was just there to make up the numbers.
“Since we’re playing a game, let’s bet something. Like granting a wish.”
As soon as the game was settled, Choi Ga-ram spoke as if she had been waiting for it. Kim Sun-min, who was standing next to her, was searching for the number of a nearby surf shop.
“If we win, let’s have dinner together tonight.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea! Hwang Hae-kyung is included too!”
“No…”
Kim Sun-min, who had been looking at her phone next to her, agreed as if she was happy at Choi Ga-ram’s words, who was looking straight at Lee Yoon-san. Lee Yoon-san glanced at Hwang Hae-kyung, who was standing next to him, but Hwang Hae-kyung was still looking at Choi Ga-ram with his usual indifferent expression.
“Whatever.”
In fact, having dinner was nothing special and was more of a reward for friendship, so there was nothing to think deeply about, but still, Lee Yoon-san felt a little strange at Hwang Hae-kyung’s acceptance. He was also uncomfortable with Choi Ga-ram proposing dinner while looking straight at him, and he was also bothered by the fact that Kim Sun-min would be accompanying them.
He had already announced that Hwang Hae-kyung and he were dating, so there was no intention, but at this point, he even had the absurd suspicion that Choi Ga-ram was trying to get closer to Hwang Hae-kyung by using him.
Of course, Lee Yoon-san wasn’t stupid, so he vaguely realized who Choi Ga-ram’s interest was directed at, but he still wondered if this made sense.
In Lee Yoon-san’s common sense, it didn’t make sense to dig into someone who already had a partner. The situation was clearly different from when they were both single and the place was a pub, the mecca of hunting, so he couldn’t understand it even more.
Therefore, Lee Yoon-san wasn’t sure that Choi Ga-ram had proposed the game with him in mind. Maybe she was just doing it because she wanted to play a game with Hwang Hae-kyung and get to know him. Hwang Hae-kyung was famous enough to get photo requests from strangers.
“…Then we should make a wish too.”
Lee Yoon-san, who had thought that far, said that in a slightly grumpy tone without realizing it. He shook Hwang Hae-kyung’s hand slightly. Then, Hwang Hae-kyung turned his head from Choi Ga-ram to look at Lee Yoon-san and said in a calm voice.
“I’ll make a wish to you separately.”
It meant that he had no wishes for the opposing team.
To Be Continued in Volume 4