By Zephyria 
Even though they were just sitting at the table eating, the atmosphere between them somehow felt like it was heating up.
Haon gave a smiling glance and, without a word, leaned his head a little closer toward Cha Jeong-won. The meat entered his mouth.
It was well-grilled meat. The flavor of the sauce spread across his tongue along with the meat juices. But what burst first was his heart.
‘Wow… This is really happening.’
His mouth was warm, but his mind felt hazy.
His senior’s pheromones were vibrating right beside him. Holding hands, sitting close, feeding and being fed—the texture of the pheromones flowing from his own body had changed.
It couldn’t help but change.
The uniquely heavy scent of an Alpha was mixed with a tension like a faint electric current. It seemed to waver between rejection and permission, as if deciding whether to draw a line or cross it.
“It’s delicious.”
After chewing and swallowing the meat, Haon spoke.
Haon wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with the back of his other hand. Even that movement was deliberately not exaggerated but flowed naturally.
“More, please.”
Cha Jeong-won exhaled as if finding it absurd. A short breath brushed past the bridge of his nose.
“Salad this time.”
At his urging, Cha Jeong-won’s fork touched his lips again.
Haon opened his mouth a little slower to receive it.
While the fresh taste of vegetables and dressing spread in his mouth, his mind went blank once more.
Their hands were still intertwined, and Cha Jeong-won’s scent was close by.
“Maybe because you’re feeding me, it tastes incredibly good.”
At Haon’s sly exclamation, Cha Jeong-won let out a breath as if finding it ridiculous. Then, reluctantly, he replied.
“It’s because this place is good.”
“Is that so? We really made the right choice ordering Course A.”
As Haon answered with a giggle, Cha Jeong-won looked somewhere. Wondering what it was, Haon followed his gaze to the people sitting at the next table.
He thought they might be acquaintances, but Cha Jeong-won’s pheromones trembled subtly.
A scent mixed with fluster… and a strange sense of embarrassment.
Only then did he realize that Cha Jeong-won hadn’t looked because he knew the people at the next table, but because he felt their gaze.
“Are you embarrassed?”
Haon asked with a smiling glance. Half of it was definitely teasing.
And the reaction was immediate. He wasn’t someone whose expression changed much, but his complexion was a different story.
Cha Jeong-won’s ears turned red, and then his pheromones wavered.
They heated up so intensely they seemed to melt the very air in the restaurant, but everyone else was fine, and only Haon felt breathless.
At this rate, he might suffocate from the pheromones.
As the meal was nearing its end, Haon spoke.
“Senior.”
Until now, he had respectfully called him “senior,” but this time, he subtly called him just “senior.” Still, Cha Jeong-won didn’t seem upset or try to correct him.
“What now.”
Instead, this time, he seemed wary, as if worried about what trick Haon might pull.
Why is he so scared? Anyone watching would think I’m going to devour him.
“You won’t let go of my hand even when dessert comes, right?”
It meant, will you hold on until the very end?
“I want to let go now.”
“But I want to keep holding it.”
Only then did Cha Jeong-won show a hint of regret mixed with a sigh.
“If I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve let go and sat separately.”
Since he was the one who pulled Haon over to sit beside him, he had nothing to say.
“But I like it.”
And shouldn’t the opposite be true now?
“Will you keep holding it in the future?”
“If you want, I won’t let go.”
“What if you want to?”
He thought such conversations flowed more naturally than expected. But Cha Jeong-won avoided answering by pretending to drink his wine.
“It feels like you’re deliberately dodging the answer, doesn’t it?”
When Haon urged him to answer quickly, Cha Jeong-won offered his wine glass. It was so close it lightly tapped Haon’s lower lip.
Haon unconsciously opened his mouth and drank, drawn in by the subtly rising scent.
“Wow, this is really…”
He didn’t know much about wine, but even he could tell this wine was exceptionally good.
“Want more?”
“Yes.”
His lips hadn’t fully left the wine glass yet. Cha Jeong-won obediently tilted the glass again.
This time, the scent of wine and pheromones flowed in together. The even more profound scent made Haon feel dizzy.
‘My heart.’
His heart had been racing all over the place today.
“This is trouble.”
Haon muttered to himself.
The relationship of being lovers allowed far more than he’d imagined. The moment he realized that, Haon already felt regretful about the end.
‘I should’ve made it a year.’
Or forever…
＊ ＊ ＊
By the time they left the restaurant, the sky had grown completely dark. Perhaps because of that, the hotel lobby lighting was deeper and softer than during the day. Haon’s footsteps gradually slowed as he walked through the lobby.
If they went outside like this…
‘Are we going home?’
That would be such a shame.
He wondered how he could spend more time with Cha Jeong-won. Then, something suddenly occurred to him, and he tugged his hand.
“Senior.”
“What.”
“Should we go to the spa?”
The prize he won today wasn’t just dinner, after all. A spa day pass.
“My body’s all stiff, and there’s nothing better than a spa at a time like this, right?”
He deliberately twisted his neck this way and that as he spoke. But it seemed a bit insufficient to persuade Cha Jeong-won.
“You want to scald your body in hot water…”
“You get wet.”
“Well, of course. You’re supposed to get wet at a spa.”
Wondering if that was the problem, Cha Jeong-won turned to face Haon.
What is it?
Cha Jeong-won’s gaze was profound.
“The pace is too fast for the first day.”
“Ah, no. What are you talking about, Senior? I wasn’t thinking that at all. Not at all.”
Haon even consciously changed his form of address and hastily stepped back from Cha Jeong-won.
“You really wouldn’t mind?”
At Cha Jeong-won’s words, Haon frowned, then belatedly stopped all movement.
He suddenly pictured Cha Jeong-won, drenched from head to toe.
The image of hot water flowing down his forehead and jawline, his clothes clinging to his skin, making his shoulder line even more distinct, came to mind. Water droplets running down his arms gathered once more on the back of his hand before falling to the floor.
If Alpha pheromones rose from such a body, mixed with hot steam, wouldn’t it be far more dangerous than here?
Just imagining it made his heart feel heavy. Haon swallowed dryly.
“This won’t do.”
This is too dangerous.
Moreover, his mind, already tainted by the imagination and unable to return to its initial state, was also in big trouble.
“Sweet room.”
At the word Cha Jeong-won tossed out, Haon moistened his dry lips and raised his head.
“Instead of the spa, let’s go to the room.”
“Ah, should we?”
At least in the room, they wouldn’t get wet.
Haon nodded, saying it was a good idea. It seemed he needed time to regain his senses.
Watching Haon answer nonchalantly, Cha Jeong-won let out a very small, wry smile.
He took the lead, walking across the lobby toward the front desk. Thanks to him still not letting go of his hand, Haon ended up being pulled along.
Only then did Haon feel a strange emotion.
‘Describe the feeling of watching the back of your lover walking to reserve a hotel room on the first night after starting to date.’
Even weird thoughts like that crossed his mind.
Only when they stood before the desk did Cha Jeong-won release his hand. Haon fidgeted with his own hand. The employee looked at the two and smiled.
“Welcome. How may I assist you?”
Cha Jeong-won spoke straightforwardly.
“We’d like to check into a sweet room.”
“I’ll check availability and assist you with check-in.”
The employee tapped the keyboard a few times, then immediately looked up.
“Yes, it’s available. May I have the name and contact information of the guest staying? How would you like to pay?”
Simultaneously, Cha Jeong-won opened his wallet and took out a card. Haon quickly grabbed his hand.
“You’re going to pay?”
“That’s an obvious question.”
“It’s not obvious.”
He couldn’t even imagine how much a sweet room at this hotel would cost.
Haon quickly pulled an envelope from his pocket. Then, blocking Cha Jeong-won’s card, he handed the envelope to the employee.
The front desk employee’s gaze shifted from the card to the envelope.
“Please use this accommodation voucher.”
“Understood.”
The employee obediently accepted the envelope. Haon looked back at Cha Jeong-won.
“We have an accommodation voucher, you know.”
His voice sounded a bit excited.
To think he’d end up using the accommodation voucher he’d been saving for when to use, at a time like this. Haon’s heart seemed to beat even faster.
While the employee checked the voucher details, Cha Jeong-won frowned beside him.
“I gave that to you to use.”
His voice was quiet but clear.
It somehow sounded like he was reluctant.
At his words, Haon blinked slightly, as if finding it absurd.
“That’s why I’m using it.”
A hint of laughter tinged the end of his words.
“I’ll use it with my lover. Who else would I use it with?”