By Zephyria It was earlier than he usually woke up, but Lee-eum opened his eyes before the alarm even went off. He was suffocating, and when he looked down, a firm arm was wrapped around his waist like a tree root, and Choi Won-joon was stuck to his back. Even though the air conditioner was set on low, it was bound to be hot.
After removing the arm, he braced himself to get up, but his waist throbbed. He stifled a groan and turned around to see Choi Won-joon sleeping soundly. It wasn’t just his waist that hurt. Every muscle in his body was screaming from how much he had tossed and turned.
Lee-eum glared at Choi Won-joon with resentful eyes. How can he sleep so well? Is this guy’s insomnia a lie? He’s still sleeping like a log. He sighed and was about to go outside when he saw a box of condoms on the chair.
Choi Won-joon failed to use the remaining nine condoms. Lee-eum threatened to kick him out immediately, calling him less than human, so he reluctantly gave up, but he seemed to regret it, hugging and rubbing against Lee-eum until he fell asleep.
As soon as Lee-eum left the bedroom and took a few steps, pain shot up from his tailbone. Lee-eum cursed and headed to the study. He had time before work, so he wrote and printed out the documents he had organized yesterday, then went to take a shower.
He took off his clothes and looked in the mirror, noticing marks all over his body. He shook his head, seeing a bite mark on the inside of his thigh, and turned on the water. He scrubbed harder than usual to erase Choi Won-joon’s pheromone, and his skin turned red in the process.
Then, as he was getting ready for work, Choi Won-joon came out of the bedroom.
He stretched and immediately came to Lee-eum, clinging to him.
“I thought you ran away without me. You should have woken me up.”
Lee-eum peeled off Choi Won-joon, who was clinging to him like a leech.
“Don’t cling to me. It’s hard. I have to go to work.”
“Eat breakfast before you go. I asked Director Lee.”
“I have to go early because I left the car.”
“I’ll give you a ride.”
As Choi Won-joon was about to get ready to go out, Lee-eum grabbed him and took him to the living room sofa. He sat him down and handed him the documents he had prepared, and Choi Won-joon slowly read through them. As time passed, his brow furrowed, and Lee-eum pretended not to notice as he put his wallet in his pocket. Choi Won-joon stood up, took the paper, and draped his arm around Lee-eum’s shoulder like a delinquent.
“What’s this?”
It was a kind of contract, outlining the things to be observed while living together.
“Read it and tell me if you want to add anything. If not, sign it right away.”
Won-joon openly expressed his discomfort. Pheromone showers are to be replaced with hugs, and sexual relations are only allowed when Kim Yi-eum permits. If Kim Yi-eum’s family comes, he will vacate the house in advance and never be seen. Do not contact unless it is important. Do not invade private spaces within the house. The contract period is set for one month and can be extended by mutual agreement. And there were a few more things written, but the last one was unexpected.
—Do not commit any illegal acts.
Choi Won-joon pursed his lips so tightly that wrinkles formed on his chin, wearing a dissatisfied expression. Ah, he still hadn’t killed that Kim Ji-cheol bastard. Shit, if he had known this would happen, he would have just told him to kill him yesterday. That was the first thought that came to his mind.
“Why? Don’t you like it?”
“If I say so, will you change it?”
“No.”
“Hmph.”
“That’s right. And bring the documents.”
“What kind?”
“STD test confirmation.”
Won-joon raised one eyebrow, and Lee-eum warned him not to even think about manipulating it. Lee-eum had been wandering around looking for his phone, which he couldn’t find, and Won-joon followed Lee-eum’s movements closely.
“So you’re telling me to go to the hospital right now and get an STD test?”
Lee-eum nodded calmly.
“I’ll get one too. It’s important for a healthy relationship.”
He should have gotten it before the relationship, but he hadn’t even thought he would do it yesterday.
“Did you ask the people you met before to do it too?”
Lee-eum didn’t answer. Actually, he was going to say, ‘Is it because you live a promiscuous life that I’m asking for it?’ but he wondered if he would get hurt. But Choi Won-joon seemed to have caught on and readily agreed. However,
“If I bring it, can I fuck you every day without a condom?”
“Keep dreaming.”
“You’re so heartless. Then give me the house key at least. I have to bring my luggage later.”
“Luggage?”
“It’s just a few clothes anyway.”
Well, yeah. After all, Choi Won-joon’s house is right next door when you open the door.
“Don’t bring too much. My family visits often, and they can’t find out.”
Lee-eum found the remaining card and gave it to Choi Won-joon, then headed to the front door. As he was putting on his shoes, Choi Won-joon, who had followed him, stared at him intently, to the point of being burdensome. When he asked if he had anything more to say, he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
“Don’t you forget something?”
“What?”
Choi Won-joon abruptly held out his cheek and tapped it with his index finger. Was he asking to get slapped in the face from the morning? While he was contemplating, he grabbed the back of Lee-eum’s head and pressed his lips to his cheek.
Ew. Lee-eum rubbed his cheek roughly with the back of his hand, and Choi Won-joon grinned.
“Honey, make lots of money.”
Lee-eum grimaced and opened the door and went outside. The more he looked at him, the more slippery he seemed, like he had a dozen snakes in his stomach. On the other hand, the thought of whether this was the right thing to do, whether it was dangerous, kept lingering in his mind.
All the way on the bus to the police station, he held his arm up and sniffed it. He was worried that Choi Won-joon’s pheromone might be left, but judging from the lack of reaction from the people around him, it didn’t seem to be the case.
It was the same when he arrived at the police station. He ran into Alpha employees, but nothing was different from usual. Relieved, he entered the office, and Jeong Nam-su waved and greeted him.
“You’re here?”
“Sorry. Did you get home okay back then?”
Lee-eum was on a stakeout with Nam-soo when his heat cycle came on, and he suddenly disappeared in the middle and ran away to a motel. He lied to Nam-soo that something had happened to his Noona and he had to leave urgently, and judging from his expression, he seemed genuinely worried. He asked several times if he was okay, so Lee-eum felt sorry and subtly avoided his gaze.
“You must have suffered a lot alone…. I’ll buy you something delicious for lunch.”
“Suffered? I didn’t even see Kim Dong-hee’s hair. I asked the owner this morning, and he said he hadn’t seen him for days.”
“Did he smell it and run away?”
“I don’t know. By the way, Sunbae, do you have that amulet?”
“Amulet?”
“The one the shaman gave you. The one that was supposed to keep bad guys away.”
Lee-eum smiled bitterly. Come to think of it, he had an amulet in his wallet. It was supposed to be from a pretty skilled shaman, but instead of getting rid of that nasty guy, he brought him right into his house. At this point, shouldn’t he get a refund of 200,000 won? That’s what he thought.
❖ ❖ ❖
Lee-eum, who had finished work, took the elevator and pressed the 13th floor. He looked at his face reflected in the mirror, and he looked exhausted. He roughly straightened his disheveled hair, then suddenly wondered why he was looking in the mirror and touching his face, and gave up.
He arrived on the 13th floor and was about to open the front door when he stopped in his tracks. He wondered if he had come to the wrong place, so he went outside to check the number and then went back inside.
What… is this?
It was definitely his house, but it wasn’t his house. Most of the furniture in the house had been changed between the time he left for work and when he returned. Lee-eum looked around with a bewildered expression, and his eyes fell on the dining table. The two-person dining table had been transformed into a four-person one, and a candlestick was placed on the table.
The living room was even more of a sight. The TV was so big that it took up the entire wall, the sofa was something he had never seen before, and there was also a massage chair next to it. And what were those paintings hanging on the wall…? Lee-eum couldn’t close his mouth and took out his cell phone. He hurriedly tried to call Choi Won-joon when he came out of the bedroom wearing a gown.
“Darling, you’re here?”
“W-what is all this?”
“Huh?”
“My furniture… where did it go?”
“I got rid of it.”
“Where…?”
“In the storage room.”
“Why…?”
“It’s too small for two people, and the design is outdated.”
Lee-eum pressed his temples with his palms. He went to the bedroom, and the bed had also been changed to a larger size. Choi Won-joon, who had followed him, sat on the bed and bounced on it.
“The cushioning is amazing. Come here.”
“No, how could you do this without saying anything?”
Just in case, he headed to the study, but thankfully the study was intact. Relieved, he plopped down on the living room sofa, then paused. It felt different…. It’s, it’s comfortable! Damn it. Flustered, he examined the leather of the sofa, and Choi Won-joon sat next to him and handed him a piece of paper. It was the results of the STD test.
“Nothing wrong. Not that it wasn’t obvious.”
“…….”
“Even though I’m a slut, I’m very careful about hygiene. You’re the first guy to suck below my waist. I can swear to it.”
That’s something to be proud of, you human. Is that a slut’s purity? When he didn’t respond, Won-joon’s hand slyly moved to Lee-eum’s shirt button.
“So, can’t we have sex whenever I want? Huh?”
He knocked away the hand that was subtly trying to undress him and pushed Choi Won-joon away. He was planning to kick Choi Won-joon out when his symptoms improved to some extent. He had only said he would bring a few clothes, so he really thought that was all. He was flustered because he had been invaded in too many areas all of a sudden.
“This is different from what we agreed on. You said you were only bringing clothes.”
“A person has to have some decency, how can I just come with my body? If you brought the house, I have to bring the dowry.”
“…….”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Lee-eum had his mouth open with a dumbfounded expression, and Choi Won-joon went to the kitchen as if it were his own house, took out a beer, opened it, and brought it to his mouth. Lee-eum, who belatedly came to his senses, followed him and began to explain in a gentle voice.
“President Choi. Listen carefully. Our contract period is one month, and you may have to leave here after one month. You know that, right? You read it properly and signed the contract, right?”
“I know. I may have presbyopia, but I can read all the letters. Don’t worry.”
He must have been holding it in, judging from the way he emphasized the word ‘presbyopia.’ He didn’t really care whether Choi Won-joon had presbyopia or not. He just hoped he would stay quiet and leave. However, seeing the scenery of the house that had changed in just one day, he was feeling a creeping sense of unease that he might have made the wrong choice.