By Zephyria 
Side Story 6
“Sunbae, don’t be afraid of whatever you do. I will be by your side and behind you. You just need to keep walking forward. That is what suits you best.”
“You’re really unexpected. You say things like this so casually.”
“You’re someone who doesn’t know unless things are expressed, so it can’t be helped. And you don’t hate it, do you?”
“How would you know.”
“You’re just listening quietly. If you hated it, you’re the kind of person who would have covered my mouth already.”
Kim Ju-hwan smiled and kissed Jeong-min.
“Stop.”
Jeong-min said, pushing away Kim Ju-hwan’s mouth, which was leaning in and clashing with his more and more intensely. The face of the man who had stepped back quickly was full of regret. Above all, he could see a slight erection…. Jeong-min tried his best to ignore it and cleared his throat.
“I’m going to see the baby that was born. I need to check if the mother’s condition is okay too.”
“Yes, I’ll take you.”
“And Dr. Ha said he’s coming around five, so I think we can do a baton touch then.”
“Yes.”
“And tomorrow, I’m off.”
“Yes, what?”
Kim Ju-hwan, who had been answering calmly, realized the meaning of the words he had just heard and looked at Jeong-min.
“It’ll take about 4 hours. A hotel.”
“Sunbae. You don’t have to go that far. It’s 8 hours round trip. You’ll be tired. Let’s do it when we go back to Korea.”
“I’m the one who wants to.”
Jeong-min smiled and walked ahead. Kim Ju-hwan, who had been standing blankly, replayed Jeong-min’s words in his head, then quickly caught up to him and grabbed his arm.
“Really… right?”
“Yeah.”
Jeong-min’s permission was granted. There was no time to hesitate. At a moment where every second was precious, Kim Ju-hwan quickly put Jeong-min in the car and went to the hospital. He confirmed that both the mother and the baby were healthy. The Omega, who had now become a single father, must have had it harder than anyone, yet he smiled and thanked Jeong-min. Then, he looked at the baby he had given birth to and hugged it lovingly. He said he didn’t know who the father was. As Jeong-min expected, it seemed they had slept together for just a few pieces of food.
The young Omega did not resent the man. He recalled that he was too hungry at the time, and since his mother was also ill, if it hadn’t been for that, either his mother or he would have died. That sight was sad and pitiful… and on the other hand, admirable. Jeong-min comforted the child, handed over the bread and soup that remained as his portion, and left the hospital.
He headed straight for the city. The red sunset disappeared beyond the horizon, and stars rose. Inside the car driving across the empty plains, Jeong-min suddenly let out a laugh.
“Why are you laughing like that?”
“Do you hate it when I laugh?”
“No. It sounds good. So please keep laughing, Sunbae.”
“Sly thing….”
“Aren’t you going to tell me why you laughed?”
“Are you curious?”
“Of course. I’m curious about anything regarding you.”
“I just wondered if I had lived my life missing out on many things. The sunset in the sky, the stars… I wonder if I’ve ever looked at them this seriously. It’s funny that I’m facing these beautiful things only after turning thirty.”
I really didn’t take care of myself, Jeong-min thought.
“Omondi was strong. He was truly strong, unlike his young age. And I could feel that he loved himself. But I wonder how I was.”
The body he had thrown away to undergo correction had improved a lot now, but trait-wise, it was still very unstable. There were times when pheromones suddenly leaked out, and times when they didn’t come out at all, and his rut had stopped long ago. Rather than worrying about what would happen if he ceased to be an Alpha, he was more worried about what would happen if his very existence broke. Wouldn’t that be too cruel to himself? Instead of caring for himself, he had ended up breaking himself by trying to forcibly change the natural order.
“Sunbae is strong too.”
“I am?”
“Yes, your stubbornness is.”
“Hey.”
“Haha, I’m joking. But it’s true. You are strong. It’s true that you did your best to achieve your goal. It’s also true that you collided with it with all your might. As a result… we ended up together, so isn’t it a happy ending?”
“Happy ending….”
“It is.”
He had thought that only Yu Shin-woo could lead him toward a happy ending. But he was wrong. The one who led him to that path was the person right next to him… the hubae he had hated the most in the world, Kim Ju-hwan.
“You met Shin-woo hyung, didn’t you?”
“Um. How did you know?”
“Just, I thought you would have.”
“You don’t want to meet Yu Shin-woo, right? I have absolutely no intention of letting you meet him.”
Do I want to meet Yu Shin-woo? I don’t think so.
“Sunbae, you’d better answer carefully. Otherwise, we’re heading to Korea tomorrow.”
As Jeong-min remained silent, he saw the veins popping on the back of Kim Ju-hwan’s hand on the steering wheel. Jeong-min placed his hand over it and patted it.
“Calm down. I don’t want to meet him. Why would I meet him now? You might not know, but I can be cold when I need to be. Hyung is already like a person who doesn’t exist to me. Well, if you ask how I can cut him off so easily when I loved him enough to throw my body away, I have nothing to say…. But it just happened. And that’s not my fault. It’s Shin-woo hyung’s fault. He’s the one who made me this way.”
Listening to Jeong-min’s story, Kim Ju-hwan let out a loud laugh. Jeong-min didn’t know why he was laughing, but he thought it was a relief that he seemed to be in a good mood.
“That’s why I say Sunbae is strong. And Sunbae knows how to love himself enough. Well, and so what if you don’t love yourself. I’ll love you more than that.”
Jeong-min suddenly felt goosebumps and looked at Kim Ju-hwan.
“What is wrong with you? Did you take some weird drug in Korea?”
“Why don’t you just get used to it now? I’ll be like this for the rest of my life.”
“For the rest of your life?”
“Yes, for the rest of my life. Shin Jeong-min cannot escape Kim Ju-hwan.”
“Look at you. Who says so?”
“I want to say it’s my way… but I’m working hard right now so that it becomes that way by Sunbae’s own will. Look forward to it.”
How could he be so full of confidence? But since he didn’t hate that side of him, and even found it cute, he felt it was already over.
“Are you curious about what Yu Shin-woo said?”
“No.”
As expected, he thought it would be so. However, he wondered if Jeong-min might still want to hear the story, but Jeong-min was firm.
“No matter what he wanted, or what he wanted to do to me, it doesn’t matter anymore. That person does not exist in my life. He must not. That’s the only way I can move forward. So, you stop worrying about Yu Shin-woo too. He’s not a human being worth your concern.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kim Ju-hwan felt good, certain that from this moment on, Yu Shin-woo’s name would never be mentioned between them again. Jeong-min was the type of person who did exactly what he said he would. On the other hand, Ju-hwan felt a secret flicker of fear that he, too, might be cut off so abruptly. Vowing to do his best so that wouldn’t happen, Kim Ju-hwan continued to drive along the rough road, humming to himself.
✽✽✽
“Haa….”
“Sunbae, Sunbae.”
“Mmm… shoes, shoes first…. Kim Ju-hwan….”
“Yes, yes….”
As soon as they entered the hotel, the two locked lips, their tongues intertwining. Calling it a hotel was generous; in Korea, it would have barely qualified as a one-star. In his heart, Ju-hwan wanted to just flip everything over and surrender to instinct, but not knowing what filth might be on the floor, he gently guided Jeong-min toward the bed. Certain that the springs wouldn’t be in good condition, he carefully laid Jeong-min down. As he stripped, Kim Ju-hwan clicked his tongue.
“What? Why do you look so dissatisfied?”
Jeong-min asked as he also took off his clothes.
“I was just wondering how this differs from your accommodation, Sunbae.”
It was understandable why Kim Ju-hwan would say that. Even to Jeong-min’s eyes, the condition of the place didn’t look particularly great.
“Water and electricity are working, aren’t they? Let’s just be satisfied with that.”
He stroked Kim Ju-hwan’s arm as if to soothe him. Ju-hwan flinched and released the pheromones he had been holding back. Pheromones so thick they were suffocating enveloped Jeong-min. It had been a long time. This weight. This concentration… this breathlessness. Jeong-min tried to accept it little by little, intertwining his own pheromones without resisting. Seeing as Kim Ju-hwan’s pheromones were still overwhelming, he was certainly an Alpha.
“Is it hard?”
Kim Ju-hwan asked, kissing Jeong-min’s forehead.
“No.”
Right, it wasn’t hard. Come to think of it, weren’t these the pheromones he had been around since childhood? Feeling Jeong-min accepting him, Kim Ju-hwan leaned down and touched his body. Jeong-min’s body was still beautiful and firm. He must have exercised consistently even here; his abs were still there, and muscles were well-defined in various places. However, he looked a bit thinner, which made Ju-hwan feel upset.
Feeling Kim Ju-hwan caress him as if observing his body, Jeong-min stroked his hair.