By Zephyria 
He was a man of few words to begin with, so it must be that.
Even when they arrived at the restaurant entrance after passing through the hotel lobby, the situation hadn’t changed.
A soft glow seeped through the thick glass door. Inside, he could see tables covered with white tablecloths, sparkling glasses, and neatly arranged silverware. Amidst it all, Haon was still restless, utterly unable to rein in his pheromones.
An employee approached and greeted them with a practiced smile.
“Good evening. Please follow me.”
As they were guided to their table, Haon stuck close to Cha Jeong-won and whispered.
“If my pheromones bother you, just say so anytime.”
Cha Jeong-won stopped walking and looked at Haon.
“What do you mean?”
“They might be distracting while you’re eating. It was comfortable with Hyun-gyu because he couldn’t sense them, but you’re probably not a Beta, so…”
For some reason, Cha Jeong-won just silently stared. Haon felt oddly like he was making excuses.
“So, almost everyone around me is a Beta. I don’t know about our youngest yet, but everyone else is a Beta, and Hyun-gyu is a Beta too.”
Cha Jeong-won gave no reply, simply continuing to gaze at Haon’s face.
Haon felt frustrated and wanted to ask. Had he done something wrong?
“I’ll say the same. If my pheromones bother you, just say so anytime.”
“Huh? No. I’ve never been bothered by them…”
Haon understood what Cha Jeong-won meant.
Come to think of it, he himself had never found Cha Jeong-won’s pheromones irritating either. He’d been worrying for nothing.
His energy deflated, Haon was led along again by Cha Jeong-won. Even then, Cha Jeong-won didn’t let go of his hand.
To others, they probably looked like a perfectly natural couple sticking together.
A seat by the window, with a view of the city nightscape, had been prepared. The pristine white round table and the city lights moving in rows beyond the glass window looked like a painting.
When the employee pulled out the chair, Cha Jeong-won sat down first.
Haon, who had been staring blankly, felt a strange sensation.
What is this? So, what is this?
Then he realized.
Even as he sat in the chair, Cha Jeong-won hadn’t let go of Haon’s hand.
Haon shook the hand held by him.
“I need to sit down too.”
“Sit.”
“You have to let go of my hand for me to sit.”
Even when stated outright, Cha Jeong-won didn’t release Haon. Unable to watch, the employee brought the chair from the opposite side over to Cha Jeong-won’s side.
“Please have a seat.”
Haon sat down with an awkward expression. At this large round table, they ended up sitting pressed right up against each other.
“Is this really okay?”
“If we’re far apart, the pheromones get distant too.”
At Cha Jeong-won’s answer, Haon’s eyes widened.
“You’re going to eat while smelling my pheromones?”
“Of course.”
Cha Jeong-won replied without any change in expression. His attitude suggested it was only natural.
“For us, pheromones are no different from air. But is there any need to consciously think about them?”
Haon looked at Cha Jeong-won with a fairly surprised face. His words sounded quite reasonable, and hearing them didn’t make Haon feel bad either.
“Then why did you always scowl so much whenever Omegas were mentioned?”
It wasn’t a statement meant to attack Cha Jeong-won. He just murmured what came to mind honestly. Of course, there wasn’t zero intention to tease.
“Those were Omegas with ulterior motives. Now it’s different.”
“Then what kind of Omega am I? An Omega you’re dating? Or an Omega you can freely immerse yourself in pheromones with?”
Since they were dating, even if just for a short while, Haon asked a bit more freely. He thought he could accept any answer with a smile…
“A pretty Omega.”
Haon couldn’t laugh at that answer. His fingers had just curled up.
“Let’s just say it’s my fault for letting my guard down.”
Haon obediently drank water from his seat next to Cha Jeong-won.
“Shall I prepare an aperitif for you first?”
“Yes.”
Cha Jeong-won answered the employee and then handed the menu to Haon.
Just as Haon thought they were to choose what they each wanted to eat and reached out his hand…
“Course A is the best.”
“I haven’t even looked at it yet.”
“Trust me and try it.”
“…Okay.”
Trust Cha Jeong-won? There was a slight hesitation, but he didn’t refuse.
‘He’s unexpectedly proactive.’
It was the same when he held his hand and walked, but he didn’t know he would act like a lover like this.
Perhaps because he was discovering unexpected sides of him. The time spent with him was gradually becoming more comfortable.
“Please bring everything at once, not in courses.”
While formal words were exchanged between the waiter and Cha Jeong-won, the distance between Haon and Cha Jeong-won was becoming much closer than before. Their thighs were almost touching, and their elbows lightly brushed against each other.
Cha Jeong-won’s broad hand rested naturally on top of Haon’s hand, which was placed on the table. It was also a seat where they couldn’t avoid the eyes of the other guests seated around them.
A strangely warm body heat rose from the overlapping hands. It felt like the warmth seeped through the skin into the inside of his arm.
Additionally, Cha Jeong-won’s uniquely heavy pheromones increased in density in the air. The calm atmosphere unique to the hotel restaurant made the scent feel even more distinct.
‘Ah, crazy. He’s really in boyfriend mode today.’
His mind was in chaos, but Haon tried to keep his expression as calm as possible. If his expression wavered even a little, he felt like his pheromones would explode uncontrollably again, regardless of the place.
The bread appetizer came out first.
The outside looked slightly crispy and the inside soft.
Next, a salad with beautiful colors was laid out, followed by the main course, steak, which rose onto the table with a subtle aroma.
The problem was Haon’s right hand. Cha Jeong-won didn’t seem to have any intention of letting it go.
“Sunbae.”
Haon murmured with an expression that seemed to say he was in a predicament.
“If it’s like this, I… How am I supposed to eat?”
“You have a left hand.”
It was an almost blandly indifferent answer. Moreover, even though Haon said he was in a predicament, Cha Jeong-won didn’t seem inclined to withdraw his hand.
“This isn’t revenge, is it?”
Haon let out a laugh as if swallowing a sigh.
“You’re not doing this because I wrapped your hand in bandages, are you?”
“It was uncomfortable.”
He didn’t deny it.
Haon picked up the fork with his left hand, then looked back at Cha Jeong-won. Cha Jeong-won’s face, met from the side, was much closer than he thought.
Perhaps due to the lighting shining from above, his eyelashes cast a slight shadow under his eyes. His jawline was cleanly defined, and near his neckline, the Alpha’s scent rose a little stronger.
As that scent brushed the tip of his nose, his insides tingled. This person is my boyfriend…
Even though it’s something I brought upon myself, should I say it feels unreal?
Perhaps because of that, a thought impulsively came to mind.
‘We’re dating.’
Then, Haon thought, this much is okay, no, should be done.
Haon quietly put down the fork.
Instead, he turned his body slightly toward Cha Jeong-won.
Haon let out one breath.
Then, tilting his head slightly, he only rounded his lips toward Cha Jeong-won.
“Ah.”
The sound was small, but the shape of his mouth was too obvious.
To anyone seeing, it was clearly a gesture asking to be fed.
At that moment, the air between the tables rippled strangely. It wasn’t that someone nearby burst out laughing, but it felt as if only the two of them had entered a thin bubble.
Cha Jeong-won’s pheromones surged momentarily and then subsided. It was the scent that emerges when surprised, a feeling of being flustered and bewildered, with a very faint hint of excitement.
“We said we’re dating.”
His gaze shifted to the corner of Haon’s mouth instead of the plate.
“We didn’t say we’d go this far.”
Even as he said that, he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of Haon’s hand until the end.
On top of the overlapping hands, Cha Jeong-won’s fingers moved very subtly. The moment he lightly brushed over the back of Haon’s hand and gripped it again, it felt like a shallow electric current flowed down the back of his neck.
“If you won’t let go of my hand, then what should I do? Take responsibility.”
“…Really.”
Cha Jeong-won muttered lowly.
A sound of clicking his tongue was heard. It sounded like a scoff, but the tip of his tongue trembled slightly for a moment.
Haon raised his eyebrows. His mouth remained open.
The tip of his nose was still filled with the Alpha’s scent. The smell, seeping in from the close distance, seemed to fog up even his head.
“Aren’t you going to feed me?”
A slight laugh brushed the end of his words. A sense of déjà vu washed over him, as if a scene had been cut from a romantic comedy movie. It felt as if the lighting was shining just a bit brighter only on the two of them.
Their hands were overlapping and the air was heated. Now, all that remained was who would move first.
For a short while, time seemed to stand still.
Haon kept his mouth open, only his eyes wide open. The hotel lighting was embedded roundly in his pupils.
“…Really funny.”
Cha Jeong-won spat out lowly.
It was a voice that seemed to be chewing over an emotion of unknown origin.
It seemed like he was holding out for a moment, but eventually, the fork was lifted. He speared a piece of steak, lightly dipped it in the sauce, and slowly raised the fork. The direction was all too clear.
Toward Haon.
“I won’t do it again.”
A line-drawing statement came from his mouth.
“This is the last time.”
Even though he spoke as if scolding, Cha Jeong-won’s pheromones didn’t actually calm down.
They grew thicker and hotter.