NOT 109

Lee So-yul’s lips thinned and hardened.

“What do you mean, it’s not?”

“I said it’s not about the matter between you and Senior Cha Jeong-won.”

Haon spoke slowly and clearly, so So-yul could understand.

So-yul tried to let out a laugh but failed. Only air escaped his throat.

“Haon.”

So-yul forced himself to call the name with feigned familiarity. It felt truly different compared to how he hadn’t really pretended to know him when they met again.

“Do you know you’re being presumptuous right now?”

As he threw out the words, So-yul scrutinized Haon’s face once more. Seeing how he would react.

Haon merely tilted his head very slightly.

“I know.”

At that short reply, So-yul’s insides turned cold.

And with Haon remaining silent, So-yul felt a surge of anger. He was about to ask what the hell this was all about.

The sound of the elevator stopping was followed by the doors opening.

As soon as the doors fully parted, Haon and So-yul turned their heads almost simultaneously.

At the edge of his vision was a familiar silhouette. It was Cha Jeong-won.

Seeing him in his perfect suit, both Haon and So-yul tightly closed their mouths.

Only they would know if it was because he was handsome, or because of the tense standoff they had just been having.

Cha Jeong-won also spotted the two and stopped walking. That brief pause, where he just looked at them without any reaction, stretched out strangely long.

Haon swallowed dryly, and So-yul unconsciously pushed the glass vial deep into his pocket.

The first to move among the three was Jeong-won.

His steps decided the course of this entire situation.

“I told you to wait in the car. I gave you the keys, why didn’t you get in?”

Jeong-won’s words were directed at Haon.

It was a low, composed voice. He walked straight up to Haon.

He didn’t even glance in So-yul’s direction. Not even a single look of courtesy one might give to someone they pass by.

Only after seeing Jeong-won walk right up to him did Haon slowly exhale. At the same time, he glanced sideways at So-yul standing beside him.

Perhaps that was the answer to what So-yul had just been talking about. The answer to the accusation of being presumptuous.

So-yul’s expression wavered for a moment. The forced mask of familiarity slipped, and something seemed to surge up from within, visible. So-yul was just about to open his mouth.

Jeong-won raised his hand first. He very lightly touched Haon’s hair. No sound [unauthorized Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]copy]was made, but if there had been, it might have been a soft rustling sound.

“Here. It’s tousled.”

Haon looked up blankly at Jeong-won smoothing his hair.

Just from him fixing his hair, Haon forgot all about the confrontation he’d just had with So-yul.

“Touch it more. No, fix it more.”

Haon bowed his head. But instead of the fingers that had been brushing through his hair digging deeper, they withdrew completely.

“Why?”

Even at the question asking why he wouldn’t do it, Jeong-won shoved his hands into his pockets. Haon stared up at him intently.

“I can smell your pheromones.”

Then, at Jeong-won’s reply, Haon involuntarily flinched his shoulders.

Suddenly realizing Jeong-won was close, Haon gave an awkward smile.

If it were any other time, he wouldn’t have been this flustered about emitting pheromones, but since he’d done it specifically to push So-yul away, he couldn’t feel entirely proud.

“Ah, that… it just happened.”

Before he even finished speaking, Haon raised his own arm to his nose. Out of habit, he checked the scent and then swept a hand over the back of his neck.

Heat rushed up where his fingertips passed. He felt both ridiculous and awkward. What childish emotion had made him flaunt his pheromones?

Then, Jeong-won grabbed Haon’s wrist.

It seemed to mean ‘stop.’ It wasn’t decisively pulling it down.

Confirming the wrist was lowered neatly, Jeong-won straightened the collar of Haon’s shirt. Then, with his fingers, he smoothed the tie, pulled the knot, and adjusted its shape.

Only then did Haon realize why Jeong-won had said he was going home.

He had brought a tie to put on him.

“I could have done it myself…”

“I wanted to see if it suited you.”

Haon tightly closed his mouth, feeling his throat burn for no reason.

Then, So-yul approached. The sound of his footsteps echoing in the parking lot was quite heavy.

“Jeong-won. I guess you don’t see me.”

His tone was playful, but there was no laughter in it. The corners of his mouth were lifted, but his lips were stiff.

Haon saw that stiff line of the mouth but couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Just moments ago, he had been concerned about what So-yul might do, so why did it now feel like that didn’t matter at all?

Jeong-won turned his head and looked back at So-yul. His gaze wasn’t so much cold as it was empty. It was a face with no room for emotion at all.

“Is the preparation going well?”

So-yul tried by any means to draw Jeong-won’s attention to himself.

“Your piece for the retrospective exhibition. There might be parts I can help with, you know.”

He spoke as if that was the very reason he had come here.

Haon unconsciously looked at Jeong-won.

He had always thought Jeong-won must be busy. That’s why he had offered to handle the graduation project himself.

‘And yet, he said let’s go see the cherry blossoms.’

Even knowing, he couldn’t help himself. He was deeply immersed in the fact that he was dating Jeong-won.

Jeong-won gave Haon’s tie knot one final adjustment and then answered.

“It’s going well.”

At that definitive statement, So-yul’s expression hardened. It seemed it wasn’t the reaction he had hoped for.

There was no opening at all to press in.

So-yul took a short breath and then nodded his head very slightly.

“Okay. Then I’ll be going.”

That was the end. His retreating back looked as if he was fleeing.

Haon couldn’t watch So-yul’s back until the end. Instead, he turned his gaze back to Jeong-won.

There wasn’t just one or two things he wanted to say.

“Even though I knew you were busy, I pointlessly asked you to go out. If you have something to do, please tell me honestly.”

“You said it’s going well, but you have a face that says you don’t believe it.”

“Well… that’s because I’m with you all the time.”

Haon confessed honestly.

“If you don’t believe it so much, go see the studio.”

“The studio? Now?”

“First, let’s go to school.”

Jeong-won wrapped an arm around Haon’s shoulders and led him toward the car.

＊ ＊ ＊

So-yul didn’t start his car until Jeong-won’s vehicle had disappeared from the parking lot.

He bit his lip hard. His lower lip turned white under the pressure of his teeth, then flushed red as he released it.

A metallic, fishy taste spread in his mouth, but it was nothing compared to the humiliation he felt now.

The plan had failed. It wasn’t just a simple failure; he had ended up personally confirming the solidity of their relationship with his own hands.

The image of Jeong-won’s hand brushing through Haon’s hair kept flickering before his eyes. The delicate movements as he tied the tie, and the gaze with which he looked at Haon—all of it was unfamiliar.

It wasn’t the Cha Jeong-won So-yul had known until now.

“Just why…?”

Muttering, So-yul clenched his fist. His nails dug into his palm.

Jeong-won was someone who didn’t keep Omegas by his side to begin with. To stand beside him, who detested Omegas themselves, even So-yul had tread as if on thin ice.

But Haon was different.

Even the situation just now proved it.

Even though he had smelled Haon’s pheromones, Jeong-won hadn’t been displeased; instead, he had affectionately adjusted his tie. As if it wasn’t the first time, familiarity was ingrained in those gestures.

Jealousy surged, and irritation rose. He couldn’t accept that the position he had so desperately craved had been taken by such an insignificant brat.

That’s when it happened.

So-yul’s lips, which had been clenched in anger, slowly parted.

The reason Jeong-won disliked Omegas was because Omegas intentionally approached [stolen content[stolen content]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]him. So-yul hadn’t been able to escape that category either.

Then, what if he made Yoon Haon into that kind of person too?

“Yes, that would be good.”

All he had to do was turn Haon into an Omega Amulet that Cha Jeong-won would find utterly detestable.

So-yul’s stiff lips twisted, drawing a strange arc. Concrete plans began assembling swiftly in his mind.

The Omega Amulet sent by his maternal grandmother just needed to be for Yoon Haon, not himself.

So-yul clenched the glass vial in his pocket once more. Strength entered his hand with a different meaning than before. His mind, which had cooled down, began racing fiercely.

“Haon, I’m sorry, but that position is mine.”

Jealousy still remained. But now he knew what to do.

Instead of just taking it passively, he planned to use this relationship.

So-yul lightly licked the blood on his lip with the tip of his tongue. By the Read on Read BL Novelstime Read unauthorized copyon Read BL Novelsthe sour taste disappeared, a familiar expression had settled back on his face.

So-yul calmly drove out of the parking lot.