By Zephyria 
Haon, who had arrived at the main house, held his breath tightly.
Even though he had moved freely at the villa, now that he was home, his footsteps naturally grew quieter.
He couldn’t get caught for not coming home last night!
Fortunately, it seemed the morning at the main house hadn’t begun yet.
“Hurry and pack. We’re going straight back to Seoul.”
Haon said while packing his own bag, but Cha Jeong-won didn’t move readily.
“Wouldn’t it be better to say goodbye before leaving?”
“No. We can say goodbye anytime later.”
After my uncle says whatever he needs to say to Mom!
Haon busily packed his things as if he were a thief caught in the act. Cha Jeong-won also packed his few belongings along with him.
Cha Jeong-won asked quietly.
“All done?”
“Yes. Let’s get out quickly.”
Haon spoke as if urging himself and headed for the front door.
Even as he put on his shoes and closed the door, he felt uneasy and hunched his shoulders tightly.
Cha Jeong-won didn’t stop Haon. Instead, he naturally reached out and took Haon’s bag.
“I’ll carry it.”
“No, I’ll…”
“If you want to move like a thief, you should move faster.”
When Cha Jeong-won muttered in a low voice, Haon smiled awkwardly.
Only after getting into the car parked in front of the house could he finally let out an audible sigh.
“I was so nervous thinking we’d get caught.”
“Yeah, it looked that way.”
Cha Jeong-won didn’t deny Haon’s words and started the car.
The car moved smoothly and soon entered the road.
The morning in Gangwon-do was different from the chilly night, with warm sunlight streaming down.
“Why is the weather so nice?”
Haon turned his body toward Cha Jeong-won, beaming brightly.
“Are you just going to keep looking at me like that?”
Cha Jeong-won glanced at Haon occasionally and smiled.
He had seen people looking out the window while driving, but it was the first time he’d seen someone like Haon, who had completely turned to face the driver’s seat.
“Yes, I’m going to stay like this until we get to Seoul.”
“You could just sit straight and turn your head.”
“Ugh, why are you talking about getting a herniated disc?”
Haon waved his hand, muttering that it wasn’t a good idea.
“Don’t worry about my posture. More importantly…”
Haon trailed off and fidgeted with his fingers. His hand, resting on his knee, seemed to grab at the air for no reason, then subtly moved toward Cha Jeong-won.
And he gently placed his hand on Cha Jeong-won’s right knee.
He wasn’t holding it or pressing down hard.
He just lightly touched it, like a feather.
“Touching brings good luck.”
At Haon’s whisper, Cha Jeong-won spoke while keeping his gaze forward.
“No matter how much you like it, if you do that, only you’ll be uncomfortable.”
He had only lightly placed his hand to avoid interfering with driving. Haon would likely be more uncomfortable due to the awkward posture.
“We came as two, but we’re leaving as one.”
Haon uttered unrelated words with a nonchalant face.
“One?”
“Since we’re lovers, it’s practically the same.”
When Haon said shamelessly, the corner of Cha Jeong-won’s mouth rose very slightly.
That small change was actually more dangerous. As soon as Haon saw it, he looked ahead for no reason.
“Do you want coffee?”
Just looking at Cha Jeong-won wasn’t enough. He wanted to take care of him more, somehow.
“Do you want coffee?”
When he tried to take care of him, the caring words came back to him.
“Let’s stop at a rest area on the way.”
When Haon immediately responded, Cha Jeong-won fell silent for a moment. Then, turning on the turn signal, he said.
“Stay put inside. I’ll go buy coffee.”
“I could go, why bother.”
When Haon said that and gripped a little tighter, Cha Jeong-won finally let out a breath mixed with laughter. Haon felt an odd sense of victory at that sound.
“You made breakfast, I can’t keep making you do things.”
“It was just scrambled eggs.”
It was a breakfast of baked bread, scrambled eggs with sausage, and a side salad.
Haon, who spoke as if it wasn’t particularly difficult, straightened his posture upon confirming the car had stopped.
As he was about to get out immediately, Cha Jeong-won grabbed Haon’s hand.
“Then let’s go together.”
Haon looked at Cha Jeong-won, then smiled and nodded.
“But aren’t you going to let go of my hand? Should I come over to your side, or what?”
Before Cha Jeong-won could say it wasn’t necessary, Haon had already half-leaned his body toward the driver’s seat.
“It’ll be… uncomfortable.”
“That’s what being lovers is all about.”
The lover who grunted while climbing over was truly radiant.
＊ ＊ ＊
The car was filled with the scent of coffee, Alpha scent, and Omega scent.
Not a single one was unpleasant; they were scents that made one feel elated.
Haon, who was looking at the road while drinking coffee, spoke as if he had suddenly remembered something.
“Ah, and about the graduation project.”
“Yeah.”
“Now we don’t have to just talk on the phone at night, we can meet and talk too.”
Haon pretended it was nothing, but there was a small greed mixed into those words.
Hearing Cha Jeong-won’s voice on the phone was nice, but wouldn’t meeting in person, seeing his face and hearing his voice, be even better?
Cha Jeong-won briefly wore an expression of not understanding.
“Meet?”
“Since we’re lovers, we can meet late at night too.”
“So you’re saying let’s meet and talk about the graduation project?”
Haon blinked, then glanced at Cha Jeong-won.
“Why? Is it weird?”
“We won’t meet other times?”
Haon nodded and intertwined his fingers more deeply.
“Of course we should stick together whenever we can.”
Cha Jeong-won didn’t correct that statement. Instead, he also didn’t push away the hand that was pulling his.
As they entered Seoul, the texture of the road changed. The lanes became denser, and the city’s unique human scent seeped in through the windows. As the buildings grew closer, Haon sat up straight.
His back hurt slightly from leaning to the side for nearly two hours. On top of that, he had overexerted himself yesterday…
While waiting for the elevator after parking the car in the lot, Haon unconsciously pressed a button.
5th floor. A familiar number.
Once I get home, I should lie down on the bed and rest right away. Then I’ll move when it’s time.
As the door closed, Cha Jeong-won reached out and pressed the button again. The 5th floor Haon had pressed turned off.
Haon’s eyes widened.
“Why?”
Cha Jeong-won looked at Haon and spoke very calmly.
“Since we decided to date, of course you should barge into my place.”
Haon was momentarily speechless. The expression “barge in” was so unlike Cha Jeong-won, and it felt awkward that he, not Haon, had said it.
“When I barged in last time, there were reasons for it…”
“Not because we’re lovers?”
“That’s right. Right, but… Right.”
There was nothing more to say besides that.
Cha Jeong-won tilted his head very slightly. Haon almost laughed seeing that expression.
This person was really pushing childishly right now.
Then the elevator stopped. It was the 5th floor.
Even though Cha Jeong-won had canceled the 5th floor, it stopping meant someone was waiting on the 5th floor to take the elevator up.
Ding.
The person who appeared as the door opened was Cha Seo-jun.
“Huh?”
Cha Seo-jun’s eyes widened brightly upon discovering Haon.
“Haon-hyung.”
It was a voice filled with joy that burst out too eagerly. Haon subtly raised his hand in greeting.
“You came early.”
“Yes, I came to Seoul last night… Huh?”
As Cha Jeong-won pressed the close button and shut the door, Cha Seo-jun hurriedly stretched out his arm to block it.
“Wait a minute. Haon-hyung needs to get off, why are you closing it?”
Cha Jeong-won looked Cha Seo-jun up and down once, then looked at Haon again. It was a gaze asking what the situation was.
Cha Seo-jun confidently squared his shoulders even under that gaze. And he spoke with a hint of pride.
“I live on the 5th floor.”
Cha Jeong-won’s eyebrows rose very slightly. Then he sent Haon a look asking what was going on.
Haon was rather dumbfounded by Cha Jeong-won’s expression.
“You didn’t know your cousin moved in?”
Cha Seo-jun seemed to gain more strength from those words and raised the corner of his mouth.
“See. Hyung must have been busy.”
Then he leaned his body more toward Haon. Still blocking the elevator door with his hand.
“Hyung, can’t you make me ramyeon today too? We’re neighbors, after all.”
The word “neighbors” seemed oddly emphasized.
As soon as Haon noticed it, he sighed inwardly. Are you bragging about that? But Cha Seo-jun really had a smug expression.
As Cha Jeong-won tried to press the close button again, Cha Seo-jun hurriedly stopped him.
“No, wait a minute. Why do you keep trying to close it!”
Before those words even finished, Cha Jeong-won spoke in a low voice.
“Yoon Haon is coming to my place.”
Cha Seo-jun’s expression hardened. His face, which had been full of delight, instantly changed to one of disbelief.
Haon found that expression too blatant and actually felt like laughing. But he tightly sealed his lips, thinking laughing would make things worse.
Cha Seo-jun opened his mouth to say more.
“Hyung, what on earth…”
Cha Jeong-won didn’t give up and pressed the close button. The door slowly began to close.
Cha Seo-jun tried to block it again, but somehow his hand lacked strength.
At the last moment, Cha Seo-jun’s voice flowed through the gap.
“Haon-hyung! Contact me.”
The door closed completely.
Only then did Haon let out a breath. He forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth that had been trying to relax from holding back laughter until just now.
Cha Jeong-won looked at the numbers as if nothing had happened, and Haon shook his head beside him as if it were absurd.
“You’re really childish.”
“What is.”
When Cha Jeong-won asked back nonchalantly, Haon lost the desire to say more.
“What should we do today?”
At the question mixed with a subtle joy in his voice, Haon let out a slight sigh.
“I have to go to my part-time job today, you know?”
Cha Jeong-won closed his mouth.