“Is that so?”
Was that answer to his liking?
Joo Tae-hyun glanced at Seo Baek-han several times with the heart of a student waiting for their grades, but he didn’t give a definite answer. He just drank his water and tidied up his things.
“For someone who claims to have no experience in that area, you sure take it well.”
He just threw those words out there and nonchalantly got up from his seat.
Seo Baek-han, who had stopped for a moment as if waiting for him to follow, opened the door to the private room at the right timing. As Joo Tae-hyun naturally moved his steps as he led, he finally realized that he was barely moving his arm.
Even if he noticed that all his actions were ridiculously unnatural, nothing changed. He had openly heard his evaluation of their last sex from him, so how could he pretend to be nonchalant?
If Seo Baek-han’s intention was to make him conscious of their sex throughout the way to the room, it was a very effective blow.
He had never even made the reckless resolution to beat him from the start. He just wanted to put up at least a minimal defense against Seo Baek-han’s attacks, but he had fallen helplessly again this time.
While being seen off by the manager and staff, Joo Tae-hyun couldn’t even breathe comfortably because of the afterimage of the previous day rampaging in his head. If that was the case, it would have been better to remember everything without missing a single bit. What on earth did he say back then, and what demands did he make of him that he was given the comment, “For someone who claims to have no experience in that area, you sure take it well”?
…Surely, he didn’t spill everything, did he?
That he originally had no interest in sex with an Alpha, that he had never eaten a Switch before, or anything like that…
“Even though they renovated a while ago, the age can’t be helped, so it generally feels old. I actually prefer this hotel because of that.”
“Yes? Ah… Ah, yes. I think it’s nice too. It’s not noisy.”
It was so deserted that it seemed like they had deliberately kept people away, and even a small voice close to a whisper echoed loudly in all directions. Seo Baek-han’s voice touched the various decorations that bore the traces of time, the smooth marble floor, and the huge chandelier, and was diffusely reflected back to Joo Tae-hyun.
The slowly closing elevator door seemed to devour the huge light, and his vision became dim as if he were looking up at the sunny sky without any protection.
Joo Tae-hyun even had the illusion that a streak of light that had been stuck behind his eyelids for a while was gradually growing in size and cutting through his torso.
Dinner with just the two of them, followed immediately by a trip to the room…
While Seo Baek-han was engrossed in checking his phone and clearing out overdue replies, Joo Tae-hyun struggled to endure the belated embarrassment that had suddenly struck him.
He hadn’t really felt it at the dinner table because he was so focused on not making a mistake, but he realized it after getting on the elevator to the room. What it would look like to the staff for him to eat with someone at a hotel restaurant and go straight up to the room.
So, was that why they told him to have a good time earlier? No, how on earth do people endure this awkwardness when they enter a hotel with their lover? It’s like openly showing that I’m going to have sex with this person next to me.
Unlike him, who was flustered, Seo Baek-han seemed unfazed by the situation, perhaps because he had a lot of experience, and he hated him a little, just a little.
Whatever the beginning, being intimate seems to reveal a lot to the other person with just that one fact alone.
For four years, or even before the marriage, Joo Tae-hyun had considered himself to be quite detached while liking Seo Baek-han alone.
But after just one sex, he unknowingly began to have things he wanted and expected from him. Even other emotions he had never known before, such as jealousy and resentment.
“Did you tell the lab?”
“Yes. I told them I’d be resting well until this week and would have to work from home starting next week.”
“Hmm, good job.”
Even though his reply was half a beat late because he was checking his email, Seo Baek-han faithfully responded to Joo Tae-hyun’s words.
“The condition of the room is probably older than you expect.”
As the elevator doors opened and they walked to the room, Seo Baek-han once again brought up the condition of the hotel room.
In fact, Joo Tae-hyun didn’t know what grade the room he had booked was. He was so out of it that he didn’t even realize this was the top floor until he got off the elevator, let alone the room number.
Thump. A sound of his heart sinking deeply seemed to resonate loudly throughout his body, and then Seo Baek-han’s Pheromone, which had not been greatly recognized until then, began to reveal its presence.
The peach scent, heavily laid like a mist, climbed up Joo Tae-hyun’s ankles and tickled his knees, then slowly tightened around his chest.
Just because Pheromone is expressed as a scent doesn’t mean it’s a real perfume, and it’s certainly not something that a Shifter can spray and take back at will. But why does it feel like Seo Baek-han is manipulating his Pheromone so freely?
Just when he was so breathless that he thought he might have trouble breathing, a green light flashed below his gaze. Seo Baek-han swiped the card and the locked door slid open, but watching the scene from the side gave him the ridiculous thought that it was like a magic spell had been cast.
How else could it make sense? Not only did he have dinner with Hyung outside, but now he’s going to have sex in a hotel room? He didn’t even eat a Switch now? He did drink a little alcohol, but still, in this sober state? Really?
“Ah…”
“How is it? Still, the view is pretty good, right?”
As he stepped inside, a beautiful landscape unfolded that even Joo Tae-hyun, who had only been swallowing saliva due to tension, stared blankly outside for a while.
Not far from the Lotus Flower Palace, this hotel had a low building height, but instead, it was designed with a structure that seemed to embrace nature. Thanks to this, there was nothing to obstruct the view. The overall landscaping felt like it was connected to the palace, but in some ways, it seemed to have been extended and stretched out from the inner palace, so it was not pastoral but overall elegant and majestic.
A glimpse of the palace walls. Rows of slender weeping willows and the city lights sparkling on the ends of the branches. In the comfortable greenery that shines even more as darkness falls.
It had been a long time since Joo Tae-hyun, who was no longer impressed by the dazzling city lights, admired the night view purely.
Joo Tae-hyun, who was admiring the scenery outside through the window, glanced around the room and then froze on the spot after checking the bedroom. What the hell is that?
“Hyung, what, what the hell is that…”
Seo Baek-han, who peeked his head into the bedroom after seeing Joo Tae-hyun, who had turned pale as if he had seen a ghost, burst into laughter as if he was dumbfounded.
“Ah, really. Did they prepare this for our wedding anniversary?”
Heart-shaped rose petals embroidered on the bed, and candlesticks lit up. Due to safety regulations, real candles could not be lit in the room, so electronic candles and lights were used instead, and thanks to the lace-patterned light box covering them, a strange degree of illumination lingered throughout the room.
It was even more spectacular when he entered the bedroom.
Champagne on the table and various chocolates stacked in layers like a tower, cute toppers for the anniversary placed on a small cake, and elaborate floral decorations placed so densely that there was no empty space in every corner of the room.
What can I say, this is… too blatantly suggestive of a wedding night. The atmosphere it creates was too erotic to be an event for a proposal or anniversary.
“Tae-hyun.”
“Y-yes?”