By Zephyria 
‘While Sunbae neglected me, I worked hard to develop a drug while thinking of my spouse… are you interested?’
Naturally, Shin Jeong-min hesitated. Because he would have to sleep with him. Kim Ju-hwan found that reaction absurd. Even if it was for treatment purposes, Yu Shin-woo had already slept with numerous Omegas, and even at the very moment Jeong-min was praying, he was spending the night with an Omega. What was the point of preserving his chastity for such a man?
‘Sunbae, you don’t have to sleep with me. Just getting the injection is enough, so don’t worry.’
He tried to hold onto him in any way possible so that he wouldn’t hesitate any longer, and soon, as if having made a decision, Shin Jeong-min took Kim Ju-hwan’s hand. In truth, they didn’t sleep together at first. However, perhaps feeling that it wasn’t enough, Jeong-min was the first to want a relationship, and Kim Ju-hwan told him to do whatever made him feel comfortable and held his body for the first time in a year.
Softly and tenderly… so that all the bad memories would disappear….
‘Kim Ju-hwan.’
On the night they shared, Shin Jeong-min cautiously called Ju-hwan’s name.
‘Treat me like you used to.’
‘Like I used to?’
‘Do whatever you want…. It’s okay to do as you please.’
Why do you never cherish yourself?
‘Sunbae… you don’t look it, but you’re surprisingly loose.’
‘You can think that if you want. Just do it like before. Otherwise….’
‘Otherwise?’
‘Somehow, I’ll feel sad.’
He didn’t know how much his heart tightened at those words. He held him in a tight embrace and remained silent for a long time. Shin Jeong-min did not know tender sex. He had never had sex while being loved. Even if he had never told him, it was obvious just by looking at his behavior.
That was why he wanted him to know. However, fearing that if he did it too suddenly, his feelings would be discovered and Jeong-min would run away, Kim Ju-hwan paced himself. Sometimes he pushed him hard enough to make him lose his mind, and other times he held him so tenderly it felt as if he might never be able to hold him again.
Each time, Jeong-min felt a sense of dislike and emptiness. Whenever he saw him sitting still on the bed, staring into the distance, it was difficult to leave him alone and turn away coldly. Just like today.
“Sunbae, wake up.”
Perhaps because it was night, the traffic was slow, but he arrived at Jeong-min’s house earlier than expected. Even after stopping the car, he couldn’t bring himself to wake the soundly sleeping man and stared at him for a long while. Feeling that he couldn’t let him sleep in the car any longer, he tried to wake him, but Jeong-min wouldn’t wake up. Kim Ju-hwan sighed inevitably and called the security guard. Once the identity verification was complete, the underground parking gate opened. He parked the car and supported Jeong-min as they entered the building.
Jeong-min’s home was on the 23rd floor, and Yu Shin-woo’s was on the 24th. Since there was only one unit per floor and the residents interacted well, it was practically like living next door.
Jeong-min must have been happy when he moved here. He probably thought that since he had everything… he could overcome any thorns in his path. But in the end, this place failed to become Jeong-min’s sanctuary.
Upon arriving home, he took Jeong-min’s hand and used the fingerprint scanner. As the door opened, Kim Ju-hwan glanced at Jeong-min. He still didn’t seem fully awake. He hoped he wouldn’t be like this anywhere else. Kim Ju-hwan clicked his tongue and stepped inside.
The lights turned on automatically as the owner entered. Without even looking around the house, he practically carried Jeong-min inside, opened the bedroom door, laid him down, and took off his shoes. As he placed the shoes in the entryway and looked around the state of Jeong-min’s home, he let out a sigh.
There was nothing in the house. He was lucky there was at least a bed; in the living room, a single black leather sofa sat lonely, without even a common TV.
On the bar table in the kitchen, medications were scattered in a mess, and there were only a few cups and plates—even those lacked any sense of being lived-in. Just in case, he opened the refrigerator, but not even basic groceries existed.
What on earth was he doing here? While taking all those drugs and getting injections, was he even eating properly? He knew that was unlikely. He could feel it every day as he held him—how he was wasting away.
Was it right to continue the administration like this? Kim Ju-hwan gripped a medicine envelope tightly, crumpling it, when a rustling sound snapped him back to attention.
Jeong-min, seemingly bothered by his clothes, shifted his body back and forth while lying down. At that sight, Kim Ju-hwan smiled, sat on the edge of the bed, and undressed him.
“Stay still. I’ll do it for you.”
“Mmm….”
He couldn’t tell if Jeong-min understood him or if he was even answering, but soon the movement stopped. Ju-hwan undressed him, changed him into pajamas, laid him on the bed, and covered him with a blanket. To think he, an Alpha, would end up playing the caretaker. Surprisingly, it felt quite good.
After tidying up the clothes, he checked his watch; it was 2 AM. As he prepared to leave, feeling it was time to go home, Jeong-min’s arm wrapped around Kim Ju-hwan’s waist.
“Cold….”
Despite the temperature in the house not being low, Jeong-min’s body seemed unable to regulate its temperature, making him feel the cold. Kim Ju-hwan looked down at Jeong-min and stroked his hair.
“I wonder what he’ll say when he wakes up.”
And he also wanted to see that bewildered and absurd expression. Kim Ju-hwan carefully stood up, took off his jacket, and lay down beside him. Then, he looked at Jeong-min and hugged him tight. Even though they were both Alphas and Jeong-min wasn’t naturally small, he was so thin… that he fit perfectly into his embrace.
His body was so cold that Kim Ju-hwan suddenly felt afraid. Fearing that the spark of Jeong-min’s life might be slowly flickering out, Kim Ju-hwan closed his eyes tight and hugged him even closer.
✽✽✽
“Mm….”
Feeling the intense sunlight, Jeong-min blinked. Where was he? Looking around, he was in his own home. He couldn’t remember when or how he had arrived. As he scratched his body and got out of bed, he found himself already dressed in pajamas. He should have remembered if he had moved this much… thinking that he must have drunk too much yesterday, he left the bedroom.
“Are you awake?”
“Huh?”
Kim Ju-hwan was sitting on the sofa using a laptop. It was such a familiar scene he had seen many times before that Jeong-min rubbed his eyes and looked around. This was definitely his house.
“What? Why are you here?”
Kim Ju-hwan smiled, closed the laptop, and stood up.
“I thought you wouldn’t remember.”
“Remember what?”
“You held onto me, Sunbae.”
He strode forward and stood in front of Jeong-min. What is this? Why does this guy look so big today?
“When did I?”
“I should have recorded it. You held onto my waist and wouldn’t let go, telling me not to leave, and it was so….”
“So what?”
“So cute.”
Feeling Kim Ju-hwan’s face approaching, Jeong-min pushed him away in horror.
“Are you crazy?”
“I took care of you, I slept with you. At this point, shouldn’t I at least get a kiss on the lips? To be turned away like this when I should be hearing thank yous.”
“Hah.”
Jeong-min sighed and ruffled his hair. Now that he was awake, the events of last night came back to him vaguely. For some reason, Kim Ju-hwan had come to pick him up, and the memory of getting into the car…. Of course, his memory cut off after that, but what was certain was that Kim Ju-hwan’s presence here was an inevitability.
Perhaps he was right. Lately, he had been feeling severe cold, so he had been sleeping in several layers of clothes. He might have said that unconsciously.
“Fine… thanks.”
“Really, it’s so hard to hear a thank you from you, Sunbae.”
Kim Ju-hwan shrugged. Just then, the intercom rang. The notification that someone had arrived…. Jeong-min’s heart hammered. As he rushed toward the door, Kim Ju-hwan stopped him.
“It’s my secretary.”
“What?”
“I said it’s my secretary. Not Yu Shin-woo.”
He wanted to say that it couldn’t be. He wanted to say that by this time, Shin-woo hyung would have already come, but the reason he couldn’t say that was… because Shin-woo had never once come to this house, except for the day Jeong-min moved in.
Every day… even if he opened the door and waited, Shin-woo only told him to come to his house; he had never once said he wanted to come here. He hadn’t even peeked inside for a moment. It seemed he wasn’t curious at all about how Jeong-min lived.
Thanks to that, the house had become so desolate. The home he had wanted to decorate according to Yu Shin-woo’s taste was simply left neglected.
Kim Ju-hwan went to the entrance and came back with a paper bag. Soon, a lunch box taken from the bag was placed on the table.
“Eat.”
“No… I’m fine.”
“Eat. You need to be healthy for the drug to work well.”
At Kim Ju-hwan’s words, Jeong-min sat down without further complaint. When he opened the lid of the lavish lunch box, porridge and various health-boosting foods appeared. It was enough for at least three meals.
Kim Ju-hwan took out his own and placed it on the table, sitting opposite him.
“I can eat too, right? You’re not going to kick me out?”
“I’m not that heartless.”
“Wow… you have no idea how heartless you are, Sunbae.”
Kim Ju-hwan seemed to be in a quite good mood as he spoke. Well, whatever. It’s not like he’ll be here forever… it wouldn’t hurt for him to stay for a bit. For the first time since moving here, the house felt lively, and Jeong-min felt strange. Only now did it finally feel like he was at home.