By Zephyria 
“Ugh….”
It seemed he had a severe case of gastritis; his stomach hadn’t been great since he drank back then. Moreover, he had eaten ramen last night… he had basically tortured his stomach. Thinking it was his own fault, Jeong-min was suffering.
“Are you okay?”
Su-eun approached, worried about Jeong-min’s poor complexion.
“Yes, I’m fine, Su-eun-ssi. My stomach is still not great, and I think it’s because I ate ramen yesterday.”
“Did you take your medicine?”
“Yes. I took it after eating porridge this morning. Thank you for worrying. Oh, I’m going to see Su-han Sunbae now, would you like to come along?”
“Oh my, it’s already lunch time. Look at me.”
Su-eun seemed to be struggling, as she was overwhelmed with her intern life while also looking for a house to move into. Despite that, Jeong-min thought she was amazing for cheerfully carrying out her duties.
In fact, she might have needed a nap more than a meal during the lunch break, but Jeong-min pretended not to notice and followed his own desire to go to Ji Su-han with Su-eun. The reason was simple: for some reason, things felt awkward with Su-han.
Last night, when Su-han had said he had an appointment and suddenly left after being asked to have dinner together, Jeong-min felt disappointed, but at the same time, he snapped back to reality. He realized how much he had been clinging to Su-han for a while. Su-han had his own life and needed to meet a good person; reflecting on how they had been too close lately, Jeong-min intended to jokingly tell him to live more freely starting today.
However, the Su-han he met this morning didn’t greet him as usual and looked away. Thinking he had misseen, Jeong-min approached and spoke to him, but Su-han kept avoiding his eyes, giving short answers like “Uh… um… oh, right,” and then left, saying he had a call.
He hadn’t seen Su-han since then. Su-han was someone who always sought out Jeong-min whenever he had time. Especially during lunch, he would invariably come and drag Jeong-min out, but since he hadn’t moved at all today, Jeong-min decided to make the move.
“It looks like Oppa is still in the office.”
When Ji Su-eun, who had been texting Ji Su-han, said that, a wave of disappointment washed over Jeong-min again. There was still no reply to the text he had sent earlier.
He stood before Su-han’s office. He had always burst through that door, but why did it feel so awkward today? After knocking a couple of times and entering, he found Su-han sitting in his chair.
“Oppa!”
“Ah, you’re— here.”
Su-han looked at Su-eun first, then at Jeong-min, and said “here” a beat late. Jeong-min had no choice but to force a smile at that. Su-han was definitely acting strange.
Su-eun approached Su-han and chatted about various things, then suddenly paused.
“Oppa. Were you with an Omega yesterday?”
“What?”
Su-eun crossed her arms and frowned.
On the other hand, Ji Su-han stole a glance at Jeong-min. Jeong-min was staring at him blankly.
“You smell like an Omega all over. Did you spend the whole day like this? What about odor neutralizer? Did you come out without washing? My goodness—you’ve advertised to the whole hospital that you slept with an Omega last night.”
Only after Su-eun spoke did Jeong-min realize that the scent of Omega pheromones was coming from Su-han’s body. If the scent was this strong even from a distance… it meant he had spent the night with that Omega.
“Wait a second. I’ll go get some odor neutralizer.”
As Su-eun left the room, an awkward current flowed between Jeong-min and Su-han. No matter how much he thought about it, Jeong-min couldn’t understand how things had become so awkward overnight. There was no reason for his relationship with him to change just because he slept with an Omega.
“Ah, shall we decide on the lunch menu in advance?”
Jeong-min gathered his courage and spoke. Playfully, as usual.
“Sorry. I’m not hungry. Eat with Su-eun.”
Su-han stood up from the chair. He continued to avoid eye contact with Jeong-min and seemed to be trying to evade him. Why on earth?
“Su-han Hyung.”
“Let’s talk later. I have some work to do.”
When Jeong-min tried to grab Su-han’s arm as he was leaving, Su-han quickly pulled his body away.
After that day, the relationship between Jeong-min and Su-han became strange. Su-eun asked if the two had fought, and Jeong-min shook his head, saying he didn’t know. If he at least knew the reason, he wouldn’t feel this frustrated….
Conversely, from that day on, Su-han had one-night stands with Omegas. Every time an Omega cried beneath him, Jeong-min wailed beneath him, and he became terrified upon discovering that he was now enjoying it.
He was becoming an Alpha who was obsessed with a man named Shin Jeong-min in bed, to the point where he could no longer distinguish between reality and delusion.
“Want me to introduce you to an Omega?”
Su-han suddenly spoke to Jeong-min while looking at a chart beside him. Surprised that someone might have heard, Jeong-min whispered quietly to Su-han.
“Hyung, what if someone hears you?”
“Why?”
“Think about Su-eun-ssi. Everyone in the hospital thinks Su-eun-ssi and I are engaged.”
“Ah, right. That’s right. So, do you want me to introduce you to an Omega or not?”
Su-han asked again. Why? Right now, Ji Su-han didn’t seem to care about the eyes of those around them. Previously, he was a man who would have been cautious as if Su-eun’s affairs were fragile glass, but lately, as his relationship with Jeong-min grew distant, he seemed less worried about Su-eun.
Since Su-han looked poised to keep asking until Jeong-min gave an answer, Jeong-min spoke again in a whisper.
“I’m fine. For now.”
“For now?”
“Yes, for now.”
“Why ‘for now’?”
“I’m too busy at the moment to even think about an Omega.”
“Well, you are the guy who can casually ignore even dominant pheromones,” Su-han said with a laugh. He gave Jeong-min a light flick on the back of the head with a chart and returned to his spot. Jeong-min grumbled while rubbing the spot, but Su-han continued to smile. He was far too satisfied with the answer that Jeong-min didn’t need an Omega yet.
And that satisfaction soon led to self-loathing. He suppressed the increasingly dangerous thoughts within himself. He had to. Socially, in terms of his own life, and considering his family, this attraction made absolutely no sense. However, there was a limit to how much he could suppress it. Reason cannot defeat instinct. Knowing this, Su-han spent more time outside, to the point that Su-eun began to worry.
“Jeong-min, do you happen to have time after work?”
At Su-eun’s cautious request, Jeong-min gave a gentle smile.
“Of course.”
They agreed to meet at a cafe near the hospital after work. Suddenly worried that Su-eun might have something on her mind, he sent a message to Su-han, but Su-han didn’t check the message until he left work.
Recently, Ji Su-han seemed to be avoiding Jeong-min, yet he would suddenly strike up a conversation, only to have his expression harden and avoid him again in a repeating cycle.
‘Sigh, I should probably ask Su-eun later, depending on the mood, if something has been going on with Hyung lately.’
Jeong-min looked at the unread message one more time and put his phone in his pocket.
✽✽✽
“By any chance, Oppa, is something going on?”
Jeong-min was inwardly surprised by Ji Su-eun’s question, but he didn’t let it show. He was the one who was going to ask…
“I don’t know either. Why do you think so?”
“…Oppa is… acting very strange. You feel it too, don’t you, Jeong-min? He’s hanging out with Omegas too much lately.”
“I think it’s possible since he was tied down for a while thanks to me and you. Please don’t worry too much.”
“But….”
“I can’t believe I’m giving more worries to a sister who already has plenty. How about we both give Su-han Hyung a smack on the back tomorrow when we see him?”
“Oh, pffft—”
Su-eun smiled and laughed. Only then, seeing the shadow vanish from her face, did Jeong-min feel relieved.
“Ah, right. I… I have something to tell you, Jeong-min.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“That person is having a heat cycle next week…. I want to be with them. For about three days and two nights…. Usually, they take suppressants, but this time, perhaps because they’ve been stressed, the hospital issued a suppressant ban order…. So… I think I need to be there. By renting a hotel….”
Su-eun’s face gradually flushed red. Jeong-min quickly nodded so she wouldn’t have to explain further.
“I understand. Then I just need to disappear for about three days and two nights.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Not at all. Thank you for telling me in advance. I’ll use this as an excuse to get some rest. I’ve been overworking myself lately.”
“I’ll tell Oppa too, so it should be fine for you to stay at his house.”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it, so please don’t worry too much, Su-eun.”
Jeong-min gave her a warm smile. Su-eun thanked him, her eyes tearing up. He hoped it would be a happy and blessed time. Since they were both Omegas, there would certainly be hardships, but Jeong-min believed they would overcome everything with love.