By Zephyria 
I don’t remember how it was when I lacked reason, but at least when I was conscious, he was gentle. Although his lower half was somewhat persistent, his touch and voice were as sweet as his pheromones.
At my question, the man’s eyes widened. Even that expression was cute. After a moment of bewilderment, the man’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.
“Is this being kind?”
“Compared to the people around me lately, you’re kind.”
Compared to the people around me when I was Min Jae-hee, he was on a completely different level of kindness.
The people around Cha Soo-kyung were irritating, but the people around Min Jae-hee were the type to rip out your internal organs if you looked away for a second.
The situation as Cha Soo-kyung was certainly better, but that didn’t mean the guys who picked fights and trampled on human dignity were “good” people.
“I… am a bit kind.”
“I think you hesitated for a second just now.”
“You’ve rested enough, so focus. That way we can eat.”
As if to block my words, the man pressed his lips against mine and accelerated his leisurely hip movements. My body, which had gone slack, flared up again with tension and pleasure as he hammered into me.
I clung to the man, letting out erotic moans, and the man hugged me tight as if to crush me, burying his member deep.
∞ ∞ ∞
The light was so blinding that I rolled halfway over and lay on my stomach. Feeling a warm body temperature against my palm, I opened my eyes slightly and saw the man lying next to me.
In the end, I didn’t make it home.
Yesterday, I managed to eat and wash up, but things flared up again and I dove back into bed with the man.
Part of it was because I’d half-given up, thinking it was so late that it wouldn’t matter whether I went home or not. It might be because I had no concept of having to sleep at home after living on the streets. Or perhaps the perception that Cha Soo-kyung’s house is my home was still faint.
Considering that Cha Soo-kyung’s bed at home and some nameless man’s bed were equally plush, maybe the problem was my thought that any place where I could lie on my back and sleep was fine.
Having slept only a few hours, I was in a daze and began fiddling with the man’s nipple with my finger. Waking up because of that, the man grabbed my wrist.
“That hurts.”
“What time is it?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up because it’s bright.”
That didn’t mean I was fully awake. I was in a state where I could easily fall back asleep if I just closed my eyes for a bit. Unlike me, the man got out of bed without hesitation. A sudden chill swept through the space he left behind.
“Surely you aren’t planning to greet me with pheromones again today?”
“I have a home too. I’m going. Just let me sleep a bit more.”
“I think I heard that yesterday too.”
“I’m serious. I’m really going today.”
If I don’t go back today, I might get kicked out. I feel like I’ll be kicked out. They probably didn’t raise Cha Soo-kyung to be that cold, but that’s likely because Cha Soo-kyung didn’t stay out all night and wander around like I do.
I heard the sound of water in the distance, and after a long while, the man appeared, drying his wet body. His hair, which had been a mess because I’d tugged at it yesterday, was now glistening with moisture.
“Are you going to work already?”
“It’s not ‘already.’ Someone is making me late for the second day in a row.”
“Still, with the amount you pumped into me, it was a profitable trade.”
Whether he had no answer or just didn’t want to answer, the man only let out a hollow laugh. I stared blankly at the man, now dressed in a suit and a cleanly laundered shirt, as he skillfully tied his necktie.
“Wake up. Here, suppressants. You should take them now. Hurry.”
I swallowed the medicine the man handed me along with some water. I realized belatedly that the water was cold as it felt like my insides were freezing. I shivered and grumbled, “It’s cold.”
“It seems your fever has dropped a bit. If you go home and take a nap, your heat might be over.”
“So it lasts about three days.”
“Don’t be too definitive.”
The man’s movements as he prepared for work were so swift and precise that I felt like I shouldn’t just lie back down and sleep. While sitting on the edge of the bed, I stared blankly at the man pacing back and forth, and then I called out to him as something suddenly occurred to me.
“Give me your number.”
At my words, the man stopped moving and looked back at me. What’s with that expression? He looks like he’s suspicious that a one-night stand is trying to cling to him. I felt slightly offended by his expression.
“Why?”
“So I can contact you if it’s urgent. Who knows? We might end up hooking up again sometime.”
Even if that wasn’t the only reason—the reason was that the conversations I had with him weren’t awkward and were enjoyable, so I thought it would be nice to meet him again—I didn’t feel like telling him that.
“You really say the most.”
Clicking his tongue, the man picked up my phone from the nightstand. Soon, the ringtone sounded from his pocket.
“Name.”
“Huh?”
“Your name. I need a name to save you under. It would be awkward if ‘One-Night Stand’ or ‘Omega in Heat’ popped up.”
“Why? That’s not so bad.”
It would be hilarious. I was curious to see how he’d react if ‘One-Night Stand’ popped up while he was at the office.
“Cha Soo-kyung. You?”
“Kwon Yi-kang. I’ve saved it. Though I don’t know if we’ll have a reason to contact each other.”
“Was I that bad? For someone who thought I was bad, you sure did it a lot. Is it because of the heat or the pheromones? Still, good is good, isn’t it?”
“You… never mind. Rest a bit and go home quietly.”
“Nothing is as frustrating as someone stopping themselves from saying something. What were you going to say?”
“That your mouth is far too free.”
“I guess I am a bit.”
It’s true, so why make it so hard and try not to say it? I chuckled, and the man left a sudden, light kiss on my cheek before disappearing.
∞ ∞ ∞
Cha Soo-kyung’s daily life after graduating high school and before entering university was monotonous. Other than eating three meals a day, everything was free time. Having never lived such a leisurely life in my entire existence, I became anxious about whether it was really okay to just play and eat so freely.
“Mr. Lee. Let’s go out.”
Wearing a thin knit and a light gray wool long coat, I fluttered out of the room. The wool coat was thin but warm, and since it looked luxurious even to my eyes, it was one of my favorite pieces of clothing.
It was a completely different outfit from the old days, when I would shiver even after layering a t-shirt, an autumn shirt, and a frayed knit over holey long johns and topping it off with a padded jumper.
The winter felt by the poor and the wealthy is so different. I had known this since I was very young, but it was only recently, after entering Cha Soo-kyung’s body, that I truly felt it physically. The daily life, so different from when I lived as Min Jae-hee, made me feel as if I were living in a different world.
“May I know the destination in advance?”
Lee Kyung-jin, who had been waiting in the living room, stood up and asked.
Perhaps because he had been severely scolded by Father due to the heat incident a few days ago, Lee Kyung-jin’s obsession with me had intensified. This was my first outing since that event, and he was already in high gear, his eyes practically screaming, ‘I will absolutely not lose sight of you.’
“I’m going to a jewelry store. There are a lot of them in Jongno, right? Let’s go there.”
“Yes, I under… what?”
I was in a good mood for the outing, and Lee Kyung-jin was motivated. Lee Kyung-jin, who had been answering promptly, couldn’t finish his sentence and tilted his head.
“Where did you say…”
“A jewelry store in Jongno. I heard there are tons of them there; don’t you know, Mr. Lee? Have you never been?”
“No, I am aware. But wouldn’t it be better to go to a jewelry shop or a department store that the Madam frequents?”
Lee Kyung-jin gave me another option with a slightly reluctant face, but he didn’t know exactly what I needed.
“No, I have to go to a jewelry store. Come on, let’s go.”
I clapped my hands to boost Lee Kyung-jin’s waning motivation, and Lee Kyung-jin, still not understanding the situation, followed me with a bewildered expression.
“I’ll bring the car around immediately.”
“Let’s go down together. We’re riding in the same car anyway, so why wait at the front gate?”
Though I hadn’t lived as Cha Soo-kyung for long, I realized that the lives of the wealthy involve surprisingly many unnecessary processes.
This situation was a perfect example. It’s not like there’s a large group; even to pick up just one person, he must drive the car out of the parking lot and wait at the front gate to load me. It would be more convenient to go down to the parking lot together and leave immediately.
I couldn’t understand what kind of dignity or elegance could be felt from such things.
“It’s not like there’s a law saying I can’t go down. Waiting is uncomfortable too.”
“Riding from the front gate should not be uncomfortable for you. Please come to the front gate. I will prepare the car quickly so you do not have to wait.”
I wanted to say that it wasn’t that the waiting time was annoying, but that it was just an awkward and cumbersome task for both of us. Lee Kyung-jin hurried down to the parking lot as if he were worried I might follow.
As I trudged out of the house, through the garden and down the stairs toward the gate, I thought that going down to the parking lot would be easier not just for my mind, but for my body too.
He must have brought the car around at the speed of light, because when I opened the gate, Lee Kyung-jin was already there with the car. He had a proud look on his face, as if saying, ‘See? I’m fast, right?’
I climbed into the backseat and checked the location of the jewelry store I had searched for on my phone. They were all clustered in similar spots in Jongno, so it didn’t seem like I’d need to travel far.
“The roads aren’t congested, so it won’t take long.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I gave a vague answer, and Lee Kyung-jin tactfully focused on driving.
I didn’t have much to say to Lee Kyung-jin, and more importantly, I had a serious problem to contemplate.
It was the question of ‘Is my current choice really okay?’—something I had agonized over before and while leaving the house. Worries plagued me: whether I was stirring up trouble for nothing, whether I’d get scolded if a problem arose, or whether I’d be suspected. But in the end, I was leaving the house.