By Zephyria 
Had he slept for about two hours? Haon woke from his light slumber, his eyes wide awake. Perhaps because he had already slept enough, he couldn’t fall back asleep.
The room was dim since the bedside lamp was off, but because the blackout curtains had been drawn back, he could see the shapes of things. It seemed In-ho had opened them when he left.
Tossing and turning under the covers, Haon wiggled his toes. He didn’t know what time it was, but the heavy silence told him it was the dead of night. It felt like sunrise was still a long way off.
He touched his throbbing cheek and massaged his stiff waist and hips before slowly pushing himself up. It didn’t seem like he’d be able to go back to sleep.
Sitting up, he let out a long sigh and stared out the window. His head felt heavy with racing thoughts.
“I really… must like him.”
Hugging his pillow, he spoke to himself in a whisper. Having never been in a relationship in his life, his current emotions felt incredibly foreign.
Whenever his heart raced, he had simply thought he was sick. It never occurred to him that his heart was acting up because he liked In-ho.
Haon scratched at his chest, where a slight tremor remained, and a shadow fell over his expression. The moment he realized his feelings for In-ho, he was drenched in a deep sense of melancholy. Without even the luxury of enjoying the flutter of a first crush, he felt defeated before he had even begun.
‘I only date people of the same secondary gender.’
Among the scattered thoughts in his head, those words were vividly engraved. The voice saying he didn’t date Omegas echoed clearly in his ears.
He felt as if he had been dumped before he even confessed. Of course, he hadn’t possessed a shred of courage to confess in the first place.
Out of habit, he tried to bite his lower lip, but he released the pressure when he felt pain. Touching his lip, he felt the rough texture of a scab. He had forgotten that his lip was torn.
Right after experiencing a heat, he found himself forgetting things more often than usual.
Haon rested his chin on the plush pillow and pulled his knees up. At the thought of In-ho sleeping upstairs, his heart threatened to react again.
Just how much did he like him to be acting like this? And since when had he liked him?
Even though these were his own emotions, a clear answer wouldn’t come. The only thing certain was that he had liked In-ho from the very beginning. From the moment he woke up in an unfamiliar bed and In-ho applied a lukewarm ointment inside his body. His heart had opened wide from that one trivial moment.
Thinking about it, it was only natural. Who could possibly not like him? Anyone would fall in love just by spending half a day with In-ho.
Biting his torn lip at the word ‘love,’ Haon squirmed and buried his face in the pillow. It was a phrase he had often used with his grandmother and Seong-gu, but now it felt so foreign it made his skin tingle.
He scratched his chest vigorously, then, feeling stifled, he walked toward the window. He thought about turning on the TV, but there was nothing he wanted to watch. The only thing that came to mind was In-ho’s face.
Thump.
He pressed his forehead against the cool window to cool down his flushing face. Now that he had admitted his feelings, they seemed to grow even larger.
Was it always like this? He felt strange, openly longing for him.
“I can’t…”
He was afraid that he might accidentally let his feelings show in front of In-ho. If In-ho knew that he, an Omega, liked him, he might find it uncomfortable to live together. No, even if he were an ordinary Beta and not an Omega, In-ho would probably hate it.
Of course he’d be disgusted if someone like me said they liked him.
As he chewed over these negative thoughts, Haon suddenly turned around. He had heard a faint presence outside the door.
Looking closely, the door was open just a tiny bit. Through that gap, the sound of In-ho’s footsteps descending the stairs drifted in.
Ssh, ssh, ssh. Listening intently to the sound of slippers brushing against the floor, Haon crept toward the door.
As he pressed his face against the gap and looked out, a familiar silhouette came into view. He felt disappointed that he couldn’t see him clearly because the lights were off. To see what In-ho was doing, he carefully opened the door a bit more.
The moment he widened his eyes and pressed his face close to the gap, he locked eyes with In-ho, who was walking out of the kitchen.
“Oh…”
Startled, In-ho gripped the liquor glass in his hand tightly. He nearly lost his grip and dropped it.
“Haon-ssi… right?”
Seeing In-ho look at him as if he were seeing a ghost, Haon hurriedly opened the door and stepped out in embarrassment.
“Yes, it’s me…!”
When he revealed himself while raising his hand high, In-ho, who had been pressing his lips together, let out a laugh. Haon scurried over to In-ho as if he had been called.
“Why are you up? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I woke up.”
In-ho was holding a glass filled with alcohol in the dead of night. Looking at him, Haon wore a curious expression. Does he like alcohol? I wonder what kind of drink that is.
“How is your body feeling?”
In-ho placed the glass on the dining table and asked as he perched on the edge of it.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not hungry?”
To the worried question, Haon first shook his head and replied that he was fine. He was trying his best to keep his voice calm.
“You still can’t eat food, right?”
Ah, I told him I couldn’t eat.
Nodding, Haon fell for In-ho all over again for remembering his words. Fearing that his growing feelings might be discovered, he looked down and changed the subject.
“Are you going to drink?”
When Haon showed interest in the glass hidden behind In-ho’s back, a bashful smile returned.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Does drinking help you sleep?”
He asked because he was genuinely curious. In-ho curved his handsome eyes as if Haon were playing a joke.
“If I drink a lot.”
The languid voice made Haon’s ears tingle. Fiddling with the tip of his ear, Haon took a tentative step toward the dining table.
“I… can’t sleep either.”
So what do you want me to do about it? Haon reacted internally, blaming himself for the words he had just uttered, feeling restless. Fortunately, In-ho picked up the conversation that couldn’t be taken back.
“You like sweet things, right?”
Pulling out a dining chair for Haon to sit in, he went to get the alcohol. Haon quickly sat down, touching his twitching lips and clearing his throat. Please, just calm down.
“Out of everything in the house, this is probably the sweetest.”
In-ho brought a bottle from the bottom shelf of the wine cellar.
“It’s actually tastier if you drink it colder.”
“It’s okay. Anything is fine.”
Haon, who knew nothing about the taste of alcohol, looked at the pretty wine bottle and said it looked delicious. Seeing the bubbles form like a carbonated drink as it was poured into the glass made him truly expectant.
“How is it?”
As Haon held the wine glass awkwardly with both hands and drank, In-ho, sitting opposite him, asked with a smile. The way his naturally soft eyes curved into circles was dangerously attractive.
Trying not to focus on his face, Haon gave a thumbs up.
“It’s sweet and delicious.”
It tasted much more like a juice than the beer he had last time, so it suited his palate. The alcohol scent was barely noticeable, suggesting a low alcohol content.
“Just have one glass. Your body probably isn’t fully recovered yet.”
In-ho watched Haon sip the drink with a satisfied look and lifted his heavy liquor glass. While he told Haon to drink in moderation, he himself drank quite a lot.
He likes alcohol, and he can drink well.
Having gained new information, his curiosity grew further. Haon wanted to know more about In-ho.
“Do you… like exercising?”
He asked, suddenly remembering how In-ho often used the treadmill in the early morning. For Haon, who found even long walks difficult, the fact that In-ho ran for hours was simply fascinating.
“I don’t hate it.”
He expected an answer saying he liked it, but an unexpectedly ambiguous response came back.
“Maybe not. Actually, it seems like I do like it.”
Taking a sip of his drink, In-ho rested his chin on his hand. Admiring the picture-perfect face, Haon took a sip of the sweet wine and blurted out:
“I like exercising too.”
Like it, my foot. I don’t even remember doing it. Haon regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.
“Really?”
As expected, In-ho wore a surprised expression. It was a natural reaction since Haon had never shown interest in the exercise equipment upstairs while they lived together. Haon’s thin frame also seemed far removed from exercise.
“What kind of exercise do you like?”
“Uh…”
Haon’s mind raced. No exercise immediately came to mind.
“The kind where you sit down and stand up.”
He remembered doing sit-and-stand exercises while holding a sack of rice following Seong-gu, so he said that. Although he had given up after a few reps because it was too hard, he had followed along quite often since Seong-gu did it every day.
“Ah, squats?”
What’s that?
“Yes, that.”
He sipped his drink, pretending to know. I should have just said I didn’t know. I don’t know why I’m doing this.
“Let’s do it together next time. Once your body is all better.”
Screaming with joy internally, he answered with a small “Yes” on the outside. Though it had been close to nonsense, he felt glad he had brought it up.
“Now it’s my turn to ask.”
Clinking glasses with Haon, In-ho wore a light smile. Haon waited for the next words with a face that said ‘ask me anything.’ Perhaps because of the alcohol, he felt as if he could say anything.
“Why don’t you live with your mother?”