By Zephyria 
===
Thinking it would be a good idea to clear his head for a moment, Eun-won went out to the garden for a short walk, and before he knew it, he was near the main house. Seeing the building suddenly reminded him of Cha Se-jin’s younger sister. He also remembered Cha Se-jin telling him to go and eat something sweet with her when he had the time.
Cha Se-jin had shown kindness by thinking of him, and it wouldn’t be polite to ignore it. Of course, even if he entered the main house, the chances of meeting Cha Se-na weren’t particularly high… but just in case, Eun-won gathered his courage and headed toward the main house.
After passing through an elegant corridor with a view of the courtyard, he stepped inside and saw Cha Se-na sitting on a large living room sofa. She looked more relaxed than he had seen her before.
“Oh! You’re here?”
“Ah… hello.”
“I’m so glad you came, so glad. Hurry, come and sit. I actually already sent a text to my older brother asking for your number.”
Wearing a matching set of a hoodie and training pants, Cha Se-na raised both hands and waved them vigorously. As he approached her beckoning gesture, a table that had been hidden by the sofa came into view.
The table was piled high with various slices of cake, cookies, chocolates, jellies, popcorn, and fruit. Cha Se-na, who had just popped a strawberry—out of season—dipped in whipped cream into her mouth, smiled as she saw Eun-won sit opposite her.
“I heard you like sweet things?”
“Yes…”
“I reaaaally love them too. But besides my mom, there’s no one else who likes sweets. And even Mom doesn’t like them as much as I do. I was so lonely, so I’m really happy to have someone to eat with. Go ahead, eat. I didn’t eat directly from the plates; I served everything into separate dishes, so it’s clean.”
Eun-won picked up the empty plate placed in front of him. He found it surprising yet heartwarming that she had set a plate for him without even knowing if he would come.
“Try the green grape cake first. It’s really delicious today.”
Cha Se-na scooped up a piece of cake and held it out to Eun-won. Eun-won quickly moved his plate toward her. He used a fork to take a modest bite of the whipped cream cake, which was topped with plenty of fresh, halved green grapes. It was soft, sweet, and refreshing. It was exactly the taste Eun-won needed right now—something that could melt away his stress.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Right! These cookies are good too, oh, and there’s ice cream!”
Cha Se-na jumped up from her seat and dashed toward the kitchen. Unaware that her hood had fallen back, she ran back with an entire tub of ice cream, opened the lid, and stuck two spoons inside.
“This gelato is my absolute favorite, let’s eat it together. I didn’t even touch this one because I wanted to share it.”
Holding the spoon designated for him, Eun-won scooped some pale peach-colored ice cream. As he put it in his mouth with anticipation, a rich peach flavor spread. The other colors of gelato he tried afterward were all delicious as well. He liked the blueberry yogurt flavor the most and took another spoonful.
“Ah, I really shouldn’t eat like this… but today is a total cheating day. I got stuck while doing an assignment and decided I’d just go home and do it, but on the way, I just turned around and bought all of this. Ah, seriously, so much stress.”
“…Ms. Se-na… when do your exams end?”
“They end on Friday, but I have assignments to submit, so I think I’ll be like this until next Wednesday. Ah, but ‘Ms. Se-na’ feels a bit too, ugh, ticklish. Can’t we just speak comfortably when it’s just us? There’s only a two-year difference. Can’t we? Please? Really?”
“…Ah, it’s not that I can’t, but…”
“Then let’s speak comfortably. Let’s not be so formal. It’s not that we have to drop all honorifics, but let’s just remove that stiff feeling. You know, like mixing polite and casual speech.”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Cha Se-na had many similarities to Cha Se-jin. The way he was effortlessly swept up in her pace during conversation was similar, and the way her fast-paced friendliness didn’t feel awkward or burdensome, but rather made him feel grateful for being led, was also the same.
“Ah… I want something spicy. When I’m stressed, I keep craving spicy and sweet things alternately. Do you like spicy food?”
“I don’t dislike it, but I’m not very good at eating it.”
“Oh! Me too! I’m the same. I love spicy tteokbokki, but I drink a whole large carton of milk while eating it.”
Perhaps because it was the kind of conversation he usually had with friends, his tension gradually eased. He liked the atmosphere, which was filled with laughter throughout, and he liked being able to keep eating sweets. Eun-won ate his fill of ice cream, cake, crackers, and jellies, chatting with Cha Se-na like a friend until the sun set.
As they spent more time together, they became even more comfortable, and after two hours of eating sweets, they truly became like friends. They promised to maintain etiquette and formality in front of their families, but to be casual when it was just the two of them playing like today, and they happily shared the last two pieces of raw chocolate, one each.
“Ah, Mom’s going to scold me if she finds out I ate this many sweets. But I was so happy. Right?”
Looking at Cha Se-na’s face, which was brimming with happiness, Eun-won nodded. Cha Se-na stood up with a long stretch and did some light stretching.
“I’ll have to skip dinner. I’m full and my mouth is too sweet.”
“I don’t think I can eat either.”
Though he couldn’t drop honorifics completely like Cha Se-na, Eun-won replied with a much lighter heart and began placing the empty cake plates and jelly bags onto a large tray on one side of the table.
“Young Master Eun-won, I’ll do it.”
A servant who saw Eun-won cleaning the table quickly approached and tidied up. Eun-won tried to help because it felt difficult to just stand there and watch, but after being gently told it wasn’t necessary, he had no choice but to say goodbye to Cha Se-na and leave the living room. Cha Se-na waved her hand one more time, telling him she had a lot of fun today.
“…Eh?”
When he returned to the annex, he felt a presence. Gladly climbing the stairs, he saw Cha Se-jin coming out of the dressing room after changing clothes. The presence of the sugary sweets that had made Eun-won happy until a moment ago faded, replaced by Cha Se-jin’s gaze.
He was so glad to see Cha Se-jin that he wondered if it was possible to be this happy. Without realizing it, his heart fluttered and rushed noisily toward Cha Se-jin.
“I heard you were at the main house, so I was going to go there. Did you eat a lot of sweets?”
“Yes… Noona gave me a lot of delicious things…”
“Noona?”
“Ah…”
Since they had agreed to be casual when playing and he had called her that a few times, the word ‘Noona’ had slipped out instinctively. Flustered, Eun-won pressed his lips tight.
“Cha Se-na is ‘Noona’? Ah, well, she is two years older. Wow, Cha Se-na must be happy. She was looking forward to escaping being the youngest, and now she’s even being called Noona.”
“When we were talking… she told me to be comfortable.”
“Yeah. Be comfortable. She’s two years older, so she is a Noona, I guess. Anyway, what did you eat?”
“Ice cream and green grape cake, tiramisu, chocolate… jellies, cookies… and…”
“You ate all that?”
Cha Se-jin smiled at the nodding Eun-won and stroked his hair as if scattering it. Perhaps because he had eaten so many sweets and was in a good mood, Eun-won could feel pheromones leaking out that felt sweeter than usual.
“If you ate all that, doesn’t that mean you can’t have dinner?”
“I don’t think I can eat right now.”
“I had a late lunch after work, so I’m not thinking about it yet either. Shall we eat a bit later then?”
“Yes…”
“But, Darling.”
“Yes?”
“Your pheromones are leaking everywhere. You didn’t walk around like this, did you?”
Only after hearing Cha Se-jin’s words did Eun-won realize that various parts of his body felt flushed. And at the same time, he recalled what he had done in the bathroom after arriving home earlier.
Recalling how he had masturbated while thinking of and calling out to Cha Se-jin, and how he had even taken another suppressant because his body wouldn’t settle down, Eun-won hurriedly tried to gather his pheromones. However, just as Cha Se-jin said, his body felt hot in various places as if the pheromones were leaking out, and they wouldn’t be gathered easily.
“Were you like this at school too?”
“…N-no… I was fine until a little while ago…”
“Then is it because of me?”
Cha Se-jin closed the already small distance between them. In an instant, Eun-won’s stomach churned violently. Feeling that their bodies would touch if he didn’t move, Eun-won stepped backward, and Cha Se-jin took another slow step forward.
In that way, they passed the second-floor living room and Eun-won’s study. Instead of Eun-won, who was stepping back without being able to see behind him, Cha Se-jin reached out and opened the closed bedroom door.
As they entered the room, the pheromones pooled inside clung to his entire body. He wondered if such a scent could exist just from someone changing clothes and staying in a room for a short while. What is this, really, what is this? How can a person smell this good?
His composure vanished, and the playfulness disappeared. Cha Se-jin easily lifted Eun-won’s body and sat him on a low chest of drawers, then stepped between his parted knees. He wasn’t taking off clothes, nor was he sucking on various parts of the body, but just the intertwining of their gazes felt like they were having sex.
That damn exam—the one he had to endure because he knew it was important—was ending on Friday. Just a few more days, just a few more days of patience. It meant there were only a few days left until he no longer had to be considerate or let go.
Eun-won was a strange existence. Whatever Eun-won said, even if it was something that put him at a disadvantage, he found himself just listening. When he had composure, it wasn’t strange, but from some point on, he had clearly—really, too clearly—lost his composure. It was the same now. Composure? He had no idea where to even look for such a thing. Nor was there a clear justification for why he had to hold back.
Even so, knowing that the exam—that shitty exam—wasn’t over yet, he couldn’t pull down the pants and bury his face between those legs. Fuck, since when did he care about someone else’s consideration, since when did he become such a good listener! Since when had he lived his life enduring like this! Cha Se-jin could not understand himself at all.