By Zephyria When Lee Do-hyeon pointed it out in a playful tone, Ryu Jeong flinched and averted his gaze. His fingers, which had been clutching the already empty cup as if it were something precious, fidgeted helplessly.
“By the way, Jeong-ssi, you need to build up your stamina. Would you like to go to the gym with me next time?”
“M-me?”
“Yes. If you knew how surprised I was to see you faint in the middle, you’d be shocked too.”
Ryu Jeong couldn’t look Lee Do-hyeon in the eye any longer. His face flushed red with embarrassment, and he kept moving his lips, but no sound came out.
The word ‘faint’ reminded him of vaguely waking up in the middle. He had just thought he had fallen asleep from exhaustion, but it turned out he had fainted. And then, as soon as he woke up… The feeling, which was so good that the thought of pushing away or refusing didn’t even cross his mind, was still vivid.
“I, I don’t have time to exercise…”
He was embarrassed because he kept thinking about that kind of thing. But he couldn’t help it. From the moment he stepped into Lee Do-hyeon’s house, that was all he had been doing. Ryu Jeong dredged up an excuse he had barely managed to come up with to hide his unwanted feelings.
He had never once thought about exercising. If he had any spare time, he tried to earn money, and if he still had time left, he slept to conserve his energy. For Ryu Jeong, exercise was about depleting his stored energy.
“Ah, is it my stamina that’s the problem, not Jeong-ssi’s? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was getting carried away.”
“Ah…”
Ryu Jeong couldn’t argue and just mumbled, closing his mouth. The reactions that popped out every time he teased him were fresh and cute, but Lee Do-hyeon decided to stop here. It was clear that Ryu Jeong’s stamina was weak, and when he thought about how he had been juggling multiple part-time jobs with such an impossible schedule, it was hard to believe.
“How have you been working all this time? Aren’t you tired?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had been looking at his face, which was on the verge of exploding, as if it were cute, leaned back on the sofa, pretending not to know. He thought that saying you didn’t have time to exercise was just a cowardly excuse for people who didn’t want to exercise, but he knew that Ryu Jeong really didn’t have the luxury, so he deliberately didn’t point it out.
“I am tired, but… I have to. I’ve never really thought about my stamina being weak… I just thought I was a little tired…”
He hated being beaten up for not being able to pay back his debt more than being tired from working too hard. He also hated seeing the meager possessions he had saved up being ruined by the loan sharks’ kicks, and he hated that such incidents always interfered with his work. He would often get nosebleeds or be too dizzy to move, but he would rather do that and save up even a penny more to pay back the debt. After continuing that kind of life for several years, he had gotten used to it, so he didn’t even say he was tired.
But considering the current situation, he thought he should be worried about Lee Do-hyeon rather than himself. He had gotten a good night’s sleep for the first time in a long time, but Lee Do-hyeon had saved his sleeping time to work out. From Ryu Jeong’s point of view, who thought of exercise as ‘depleting energy’, it was definitely too much.
“Y-you’re more tired than me, President…”
“Hmm? You mean me?”
Ryu Jeong, who had been avoiding his gaze all along, hesitated and looked at Lee Do-hyeon. He carefully conveyed his thoughts to Lee Do-hyeon, who was wondering if he was talking to him.
“You’re saying you usually go to work and exercise…”
“I don’t go every day. Jeong-ssi works every day. Without fail, even on weekends. I thought I was seeing things at the hotel yesterday.”
“…”
That was the same for him. Just before the elevator doors opened, he was confused as to whether Lee Do-hyeon’s voice that leaked through the crack in the door was really his. Lee Do-hyeon, who appeared in front of him like a lie, felt so unreal, which made his heart pound even more. In that short moment, he really felt like he was in a dream…
“…President.”
Now it felt even more like a dream. Ryu Jeong put aside the hot and humid memories of last night and blankly called out to Lee Do-hyeon. Lee Do-hyeon, who had been looking at Ryu Jeong the whole time, except for the few seconds he had gone to get water when Ryu Jeong had avoided his gaze several times, gently met his eyes again.
Everything felt so much like a dream that he wondered if even the words that remained in his memory were all illusions he had heard in a dream. No, it might be better if they were illusions. If they were illusions, it would end with regret, but if he took back his words, it would leave a scar.
“Do you have something to say?”
Even so, he wanted to confirm. Ryu Jeong, who had been hesitating, looked at Lee Do-hyeon, who was asking with a puzzled look, and made up his mind. But the words that came out of his mouth were clumsy and terrible.
“Do you really… me… here…”
“Looks like you remembered now.”
“…Yes?”
Ryu Jeong, who was trying to stammer out the words that were only lingering in his mouth, asking if he really liked him, felt like he was suffocating at Lee Do-hyeon’s words. Seeing his lost eyes wandering around, Lee Do-hyeon awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and continued.
“I was worried that you had forgotten because you were acting so nonchalant…”
“N-no. It’s not that I forgot, it’s just that I can’t, I can’t believe it…”
“What can’t you believe?”
There were so many things that he couldn’t readily answer. Ryu Jeong bit his lip, fidgeting with the blanket he had wrapped around himself instead of clothes to cover his body. Instead, Lee Do-hyeon recalled each memory one by one.
“That I want to keep Jeong-ssi locked up?”
“…”
“Or that I said I like Jeong-ssi?”
“Th-that’s… Ah!”
Then his body was suddenly lifted up. Even though it wouldn’t be visible under the blanket, Lee Do-hyeon easily lifted Ryu Jeong and placed him on his lap. Ryu Jeong held onto the cup handle tightly, afraid of dropping the cup he was still holding, and hunched his shoulders.
But it was in vain. Lee Do-hyeon ruthlessly snatched the palm-sized cup as if it were in the way. Ryu Jeong reached out towards the cup that was moving away without him realizing it, and quickly grabbed Lee Do-hyeon’s shoulder, surprised by the staggering. Thanks to the slightly raised view that was almost the same, he was able to look down at Lee Do-hyeon, who he had always looked up to. Ryu Jeong, startled by the close face, put strength into the hand that was holding his shoulder and tried to push his body back, but Lee Do-hyeon did not allow that moment of gap.
“Why are you running away?”
“It’s not running away… it’s just too close…”
“It was closer yesterday.”
He firmly fixed Ryu Jeong’s waist so he couldn’t run away, and grabbed his head, which kept turning to the side, to make eye contact. Then he looked like he was going to close his eyes altogether. Was he embarrassed? Lee Do-hyeon, who had been staring at his earlobe, which was still slightly red, rubbed the soft and squishy flesh with his thumb. His shoulders shrank as if he were ticklish, and the blanket he was covering himself with slid down.
“You can’t run away now even if you want to. As I said, I’m the kind of person who thinks I should keep Jeong-ssi locked up.”
He said, scanning his upper body full of bite and suck marks with his eyes. He had only looked at him, but Ryu Jeong flinched and released his pheromones. It wasn’t an intentional act, and he seemed quite embarrassed even though it was his own doing. Compared to his pheromones, it was a very weak Recessive Pheromone, but Lee Do-hyeon buried his nose in Ryu Jeong’s neck, just like he had craved all night. He held onto his trembling body and inhaled the pheromones that clearly no one else but him could smell.
“Well, that’s just a figure of speech. If I really locked you up against your will, that would be a crime. If you don’t want to see me commit a crime, stay here in this house.”
“Ugh…”
“Ah, is this a threat?”
He matched his lips to the reddish marks as if fitting the pieces of a puzzle, then smiled slightly and raised his head. Ryu Jeong was the only one who had released his pheromones, but Ryu Jeong was the only one who was reacting. He felt the urge to dig into his narrow body and leave his mark as much as he wanted, but Lee Do-hyeon held back. He couldn’t let Ryu Jeong, who had just barely come to his senses and was making eye contact, faint again.
Lee Do-hyeon carefully removed the hair that had grown long and stuck to his cheek. Ryu Jeong squinted even at the small, insignificant skinship.
“I told you before, it’s not out of pity.”
“…Yes.”
“I just want to give Jeong-ssi everything I have. It just so happens that those things are like this.”
At the phrase ‘things like this’, Lee Do-hyeon gestured as if to encompass the entire house. Ryu Jeong couldn’t bring himself to look around with him. He barely managed to pull up the blanket that had slipped down to his waist, barely covering his chest, and rolled his eyes. The emotions that had been so uneasy were gone, and now he was just embarrassed to be sitting on Lee Do-hyeon’s lap and facing him.
“So Jeong-ssi just has to receive.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had elegantly explained the Alpha’s great possessiveness, smiled with a bit of self-mockery because he felt it was abnormally. Fortunately, Ryu Jeong didn’t seem to see it. He was busy covering his mottled body, then suddenly stopped and hesitated before opening his mouth.
“Then… what should I give President?”
“…”
His slightly swollen lips opened, and the question that flowed out of them was very unexpected. Lee Do-hyeon, who had lost his words at the unexpected words, just stared at him, and Ryu Jeong, embarrassed, tilted his gaze and muttered again.
“I want to give you something too…”
Would it be normal to want to give something in return, rather than rejecting the irrational and somewhat violent words of being locked up? He could only express it with the word ‘lovely’. Lee Do-hyeon couldn’t hide the smile that was uncontrollably leaking out and just laughed like an idiot.
“You’re here. Then I’ll have Jeong-ssi.”
Would receiving other great things be as great as Ryu Jeong? His small shoulders drooped sadly as if he heard that he didn’t want anything, but Lee Do-hyeon didn’t add anything more. Hoping that his sincerity would be conveyed, he simply kissed Ryu Jeong’s lips lightly.