By Zephyria 
“Actually, Jjangja came to see me, and I was worried he might try to harm the Boss.”
His pronunciation was slurred because his cheek was crushed against the man’s palm. Even though it was uncomfortable to speak with his lips half-buried.
“I feel like the Boss keeps getting caught up in bad things because of me….”
Once the floodgates opened, the dam collapsed, and words poured out relentlessly. It was as if the worries he had kept inside all this time had bloomed like mold, covering his heart.
“And you said if I became an Omega, you’d sell me somewhere else.”
That was why he thought he had no choice but to leave. He claimed he wasn’t actually trying to run away.
“I do think it’s right for me to stop being a nuisance and leave…. I know I’m being selfish.”
Red veins stood out in the observing man’s eyes. Hot breath repeatedly scattered from between the small lips. The pheromones were several times thicker than before, overflowing in a reckless display.
“But still, please don’t kick me out.”
That’s what you want, isn’t it, the man murmured.
“…Yes.”
At the timid response that followed, the man gauged Eun-myeong. With what state of mind had he packed his bags? He likely had never known the comfort of leaning his mind or body on anyone in his entire life.
He probably spent his days barely surviving, closing his eyes while leaning against a house as narrow as a mouse hole and falling apart, filling his starving stomach with trash-like food.
A life as pitiful as a wild flower blooming by the roadside. The man, who was the first to carelessly pluck that flower, smiled deeply, like someone whose mouth was carved into a furrow by a sickle.
“Anyway, I have nowhere to go if I leave, and it’s still cold outside.”
Right, I suppose so. The man nodded, pretending to deeply empathize. Everything for a cozy life was right here, after all. It wouldn’t be easy to turn away.
“You’re finally starting to use your head.”
As he gripped the shoulder and tried to pull him closer, he felt a faint resistance in his grasp. The man’s brow twitched ever so slightly at the unpleasant sensation flowing through his palm.
Despite that, Eun-myeong was well aware that the man’s temperament was twisted. He hurriedly added an excuse.
“You said I smelled.”
“Who did?”
The man answered without losing his smile. In his head, he was calculating who the culprit was. Who had buried their nose so deep into the nape of his neck in the meantime?
“My Boss did.”
The man leisurely arched one eyebrow. That alone was enough for him to realize what was being talked about.
“Uh, it’s so disgusting I feel like my nose is going to fall off.”
Eun-myeong was greatly disheartened by the utterly heartless words. The man folded his own arm, buried his nose in the crook, and began to sniff.
“…That’s strange, the cosmetics shop definitely said it was a good perfume.”
The man’s large hand gripped Eun-myeong’s buttocks firmly and broadly. The way he clung so tightly was unbearably pleasing. Didn’t it seem as if he were fashioned specifically to be caught in the man’s hand?
“Do you think it’s okay to just go around spreading your scent? You should take better care of your skin’s scent.”
The man slid his forearm under Eun-myeong’s backside. Then, he hoisted Eun-myeong up in one go.
“Uh, ah!”
Startled, Eun-myeong wrapped his arms around the man’s neck. As the man headed toward the bathroom, he carelessly trampled over Eun-myeong’s belongings scattered messily on the floor. A sigh of fabric escaped as clothes were crushed under his leather shoes.
In the midst of that, the man found it absurd that Eun-myeong had excluded everything the man had bought for him and packed only those wretched things. He wondered if the boy had some fetish for poverty.
Entering the bathroom, the man turned the faucet. With a rumbling sound, the water surged and poured into the tub. He stripped Eun-myeong of all his clothes and pushed him inside. The surging current pulled at the white body.
The man also flicked open the buttons of his shirt. The shirt that had been tightly constricting his massive chest revealed his aggressive physique as if welcoming the release.
As he zipped down his pants with a shrrrip, Eun-myeong flushed at the neck and averted his gaze. The man gave a short laugh and returned to his primal state.
As he stepped into the tub, the bathwater overflowed and splashed out like a great typhoon. The man pulled Eun-myeong into his embrace and perched him atop his lower body. Eun-myeong settled in awkwardly, like a misplaced sack of barley.
“But the work at the shop….”
Halfway through the sentence, Eun-myeong let out a heavy, troubled sigh. The man reached up and swept Eun-myeong’s wet hair back. A forehead that rose roundly like a hill was revealed.
“I feel like I’m really going to get fired. I keep skipping work saying I’m sick whenever I can, and today I even tried to run away like this.”
Perhaps because he was soaked in hot water, his voice stretched out like honey. It wound softly around the man’s ears.
“If your boss kicks you out, you can just come to Capital.”
Eun-myeong fidgeted with his hands. He looked down at the nails the man maintained for him, tinkering with them. In between, he glanced sideways, as if there was something he wanted to say.
Then, he ventured.
“But by any chance… are you seeing my Boss?”
“What?”
One of the man’s eyebrows froze and shot straight up.
“…He’s so beautiful, I thought he was a celebrity.”
Swoosh. The man raised his hands. Supporting both forearms on the edge of the tub, he leaned back.
He chewed over the previous situation. Kang Chang-hee, who looked strangely amused, and Eun-myeong, who had been left defenseless before him like a rat in a trap.
Come to think of it, the boy had seemed intimidated, and when the man had grabbed his arm, he had pushed him away while glancing at Kang Chang-hee.
‘You were hitting on my lover?’
And then there was Kang Chang-hee’s final remark. A haphazard, rag-like story began to piece itself together.
A separate lover, a separate bed partner, and on top of that, picking up the lover’s lover. Since the man’s moral compass was already crushed, such a scandal didn’t evoke much emotion in him.
“Well, I don’t have the perverted hobby of sharing beds with blood relatives.”
It would be troublesome if the partner was that person. He felt a dizzying sensation, as if he might faint if he shared the same air in the same space.
There was a brief lull in the conversation, and then Eun-myeong’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You two were family?”
To that, the man casually blurted out.
“Yeah, half-siblings.”
“…I see. No wonder I thought your eyes looked similar.”
His voice grew slightly louder. Furthermore, as if the afterglow remained, Eun-myeong began to examine the man’s features one by one. Perhaps because he had been washed well, a strange glow appeared on Hui-yeon’s face, making it look polished. The man tilted his chin back. It was a gesture that said, Go ahead and do whatever you like.
The gaze that had pooled in the man’s eyes passed the nose, touched the lips, and slowly swept down the chest to the flank. Eun-myeong’s fingers twitched and pointed to the tattoo.
“Does it hurt when you get a tattoo?”
“Not really.”
The man grabbed Eun-myeong’s hand and made him grope his flank. Eun-myeong’s short nails dug into the muscles that were carved like furrows. The man let out a low, secret moan.
“Do you know what this is?”
He asked. Lilac. Eun-myeong stared as if possessed at the Hanja characters elegantly engraved in black ink, then slowly shook his head.
“No.”
“Lilac.”
The resonant voice echoed low against the tiled walls of the bathroom.
Even after being told, the question mark remained in those pale brown eyes. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to ask what it was. Eun-myeong was overly cautious, possessing a fear rooted in his poverty and lack of education.
“Yes.”
In the end, he simply nodded innocently.
Just as the atmosphere had become languid, the vibration of a cell phone echoed through the tub. Buzz, buzz. The source was the man’s pants pocket resting on the edge.
At any other time, he would have ignored it. However, he reached out and picked it up. It was largely because the recent messages had been quite irritating.
No, to be precise, they were messages sent to Eun-myeong. The man had set up a duplicate SIM for Eun-myeong’s phone, but since Eun-myeong himself had lost his phone, these pieces of trash had piled up only for the man.
He fixed his wet eyes on the screen.
[Hey lol Hyung went to the orphanage]
[Found Chairman Go’s number lol]
[That old fossil lol when he thinks of you]
[He’s gonna come with a hard-on]
[Tap tap tap]
[Hyung’s gonna get a really high price for you lol]
Hmm. The man rolled his gaze over the screen and lightly bit the side of his middle finger. His molars pressed hard against the bone.
“Is something wrong?”
“I have some fish here, and I’m wondering how to cook it.”
At those cryptic words, Eun-myeong asked again. It was because the man looked far too cold for it to be just about some fish.
“What kind of fish is it?”
The man gave a short laugh.
“A small fry that can’t even fit on a metal skewer.”
“Small fry wouldn’t have much meat. Why not let it go this time and catch it when it’s bigger?”
“It’s too annoying to keep in my sight for that.”
Eun-myeong lowered his eyes. His wet eyelashes hung heavy, casting a shadow beneath his eyes.
His nape was bright red, like a well-cooked piece of salmon. The man slid his hand under the armpit and kneaded the soft flesh. At first, he resisted, squirming randomly, but now even that had turned into resignation. When the man pushed his hand between his flank, he simply lifted his arm obediently.
“Small fry….”
As he murmured, he seemed to be contemplating it quite seriously, perhaps because it was his area of expertise.
“How about dipping it in cho-jang while it’s still alive?”
“While it’s alive?”
As a professional, the option he gave the man was excellent. The man smiled with his eyes in amusement.
“Yeah, alive sounds good.”
At the positive response, Eun-myeong looked up at the man happily. He continued to offer up the flesh under his armpit to be kneaded.
“Yes, then at least it’ll be fresh, so it’ll have a good chew to it.”
“It’ll be quite a sight, flopping around.”
Being a man whose standards were so high they touched the sky, he was stingy with praise. This was considerable praise. Knowing this, Eun-myeong curled his lips upward, revealing small front teeth as he smiled.
He then leaned his upper body back and pressed his cheek against the man’s chin. Even so, he seemed to curl his toes tightly, afraid he might be rejected.
“When you’re like this, there’s nothing you need to be afraid of.”
The man slid his thick fingers between those toes and gripped them. Then, he pressed a kiss—chu—against the white temple. Just as one would kiss the nose of a pet dog.