By Zephyria Kwon Tae-hee had Chief Jung tidy up the flower garden and headed to Seo Jeong-won’s house. The youthful face, asleep leaning against his chest, was serene. When a sigh-like breath escaped from slightly parted lips, the lingering scent of alcohol spread sweetly.
It took less than ten minutes to get from the flower garden to the villa where Seo Jeong-won resided. The driver, who had parked smoothly, asked if he should wait or come back to pick him up in the morning.
“Wait.”
“Yes, sir.”
The driver, after getting out of the driver’s seat and opening the back door, gave a light bow.
Kwon Tae-hee picked up Seo Jeong-won. He carried the limp body up the stairs. Reaching the door after climbing the low steps, Kwon Tae-hee gently shook Seo Jeong-won.
“It wasn’t a password…”
He hadn’t noticed because he hadn’t looked closely the first time he visited. The building was old and the hygiene was terrible, so he was too busy looking around to pay attention to the front door.
Besides, he had thought that the fidgeting that day was to prevent the password from being exposed, but it seemed he was inserting and turning a key.
Kwon Tae-hee’s hand rummaged through Seo Jeong-won’s pants pocket. It was difficult to find while holding him. Would he even be able to stand if he put him down?
Kwon Tae-hee readjusted Seo Jeong-won, slinging him over his shoulder, and rummaged through his pocket more easily. There were many miscellaneous items inside. Receipts, crumpled bills, and coins were pulled out. Among them was a key with a dolphin pendant, its paint peeling off.
“Why does he still have something like this.”
The surroundings were dark because the light sensor had a problem and didn’t properly detect movement, so the lights were off except when he was coming up.
Annoyed, Kwon Tae-hee inserted the key into the hole and finally unlocked the door.
He laid the peacefully sleeping Seo Jeong-won on the bed and slowly scanned the inside of the house, which was not much different from yesterday. It was small, and because there wasn’t much in the house, it looked well-organized. In other words, it was bleak.
Kwon Tae-hee, returning to the room with water, gently touched Seo Jeong-won’s cheek. The neatly closed eyes wrinkled, but he didn’t wake up.
He placed it on the desk so he could drink it when he woke up and pulled the slipped-down blanket up to cover him. He wondered if he should change his clothes, but he thought it would be impossible not to touch him under that pretext.
Seo Jeong-won needed to know how much he cherished him. Kwon Tae-hee, gently stroking the cheek that had cooled down from its initial heat, released his Pheromone as a habit.
He saturated Seo Jeong-won with his scent and got up. If he sat there any longer, he felt like he wouldn’t want to go back at all.
Looking around the desk, he found a pen and notepad and wrote down what he wanted to say. Leaving it under the water bottle where it would be easily seen, he approached the bedside.
He stared intently at the peacefully sleeping face and impulsively kissed him. He dropped several soft, wet kisses on the soft lips, like stamping a seal, and released his Pheromone again. He hoped he would become a body that could feel Pheromones as soon as possible.
Kwon Tae-hee, feigning ignorance of his increasingly impatient heart, satisfied with his deepened scent, left Seo Jeong-won’s room.
Chapter 2.
The moment Seo Jeong-won opened his eyes that morning, he instinctively knew that something was seriously wrong. When he checked the neatly and cleanly written note, he was worried that he might have made a mistake, but gradually that feeling turned into despair.
It wasn’t the time to leisurely read the note he had left over and over again. If he had made a mistake, which he didn’t remember well, he had to apologize.
He immediately sent him a message to express his gratitude, but the reply was a simple “You’re welcome.” Contrary to his expectation that the conversation would continue, he didn’t even ask if he was okay, not even as a formality.
There was no reply to his greeting, telling him to take care of his meals as he must be busy. Seo Jeong-won couldn’t bring himself to contact him first and let the time pass.
On Friday, just as he was about to leave after finishing up early at the flower garden, he received a call from Kwon Tae-hee’s secretary, not Kwon Tae-hee himself. The message was that he didn’t need to come this week because there were schedule conflicts. He was sure that something was wrong.
He was told to rest well, but Seo Jeong-won couldn’t rest comfortably for even a minute. An anxiety, the origin of which he didn’t know, weighed down his mood. He was seized by a sense of helplessness.
Even as a new week began, Seo Jeong-won’s phone remained silent. No one contacted him from anywhere.
As promised with Kang Da-hyun, he went to his farm early in the morning, ate breakfast together, and focused on picking apples for several hours, but he couldn’t fully concentrate on the crops.
Seo Jeong-won was lost in thought throughout the apple picking. He must have made a mistake while drunk that day.
Or was he with that person? Perhaps, that was more likely. That person was Kwon Tae-hee’s best choice.
Seo Jeong-won, having filled the yellow basket with apples, sat down for a moment and took a long breath. He was tired. He hadn’t slept soundly for a single day, afraid that he might miss a call, that he might miss the ringtone.
As he rubbed his stiff eyes and yawned slightly, Kang Da-hyun suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
“Spacing out.”
“Ah, ah… You startled me.”
Seo Jeong-won’s shoulder jumped up in surprise. As he made excuses that it wasn’t like that and showed the full yellow basket, Kang Da-hyun smiled awkwardly.
Since his drunken rant back then, they had become subtly awkward. He definitely seemed to remember, but he stubbornly insisted that he didn’t, which made it even worse.
“You didn’t even eat breakfast properly. How about some soju with pork belly after work?”
“Soju?”
“Or, should we have beer instead?”
Seo Jeong-won burst into laughter at his quick change of words. He shook his head, wondering why he kept suggesting drinking when he couldn’t even handle alcohol well.
“Are you going to propose to me again when you’re drunk?”
“No, I really don’t remember, okay? Me, propose to you? Ha, geez. No, well, marriage is something you do eventually, but me, to you? Wow, that’s ridiculous. No, but such a ridiculous… Huh? Isn’t it not that ridiculous? Isn’t it okay? Look at me closely. I’m handsome.”
“What does looks have to do with marriage? Do you like me?”
Seo Jeong-won asked playfully. His voice, asking Kang Da-hyun if that could be possible, was full of laughter.
“And I’m a Beta. You’re an Alpha.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Meet someone nice, date, and get married. Don’t say things like that to me, even as a joke. I’m scared someone might hear.”
“You can like someone who’s a Beta, why are you so scared?”
Seo Jeong-won stroked his arm, which was exposed below his short sleeve. Taking off his work gloves, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
Kang Da-hyun’s gaze fell on his face, which sparkled under the sunlight. When he was young, he was often mistaken for an Omega, which often led to dangerous situations.
Each time, it was none other than him who protected Seo Jeong-won. At first out of goodwill, the second time out of curiosity, and from the third time onwards, out of affection.
Wasn’t he attractive enough for anyone to be interested in? Something that stimulated something hidden and sinister.
“Why are you scared of someone hearing? What’s so great about marriage? Isn’t it something you do if you like each other?”
“Isn’t the problem that we don’t like each other?”
Kang Da-hyun’s expression crumpled at the accurate point. He unknowingly released his Pheromone.
His pride was hurt by the act of unilaterally claiming ownership of something he didn’t possess, but the person in question wouldn’t know anyway.
The unfamiliar Pheromone emanating from Seo Jeong-won was very strong, but he thought he could leave a trace of his scent as well, even if it was a small amount.
A light and refreshing scent, different from the luxurious scent emanating from Seo Jeong-won, began to permeate little by little. The innocent eyes, knowing nothing, curved gently.
“Anyway… the neighborhood is small, what if rumors spread? Your parents will collapse.”
“Why would they collapse? That’s nonsense. They’ll allow it if I say I like you. My parents aren’t that narrow-minded.”
Seo Jeong-won closed his mouth at the serious reply. He turned his head, avoiding the burdensome gaze. But he couldn’t pretend not to notice, so he smiled awkwardly and reached for an apple.
“So, are we eating dinner or not?”
“You said no alcohol while picking apples.”
“No, well… Isn’t drinking after labor the best? Don’t you know?”
“What don’t I know? What are you even saying?”
Seo Jeong-won scratched his cheek at the rambling words. He was about to move because there were no more apples to pick and he seemed to have rested enough while chatting, but Kang Da-hyun stopped him.
“How about some makgeolli as a snack? The menu is cold bean noodles.”
“No thanks. You keep telling me to drink while working.”
“No, well… Isn’t it something you can do? Well, we’re not picking all day, and after the snack, we’ll pick for another hour or two and then it’s over.”
“Are you even the owner of this field?”