#17

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The dinner ended as a complete K-style company outing.

Having heard the rumors, the other coaching staff from different restaurants joined in, and whether it was thanks to the Korean food they hadn’t tasted in a long time or because it was their first drinking session with Coach Peter, everyone drank until they were completely wasted.

The players who still had some sanity left walked back to the dorms, while several Ubers had to be called for those who had become unconscious. Yuk Du-min was the latter.

It was up to Ji Min-chul and Shin Ho-jae to support the heavy, water-logged-cotton-like Yuk Du-min from both sides and carry him to his room.

“Holy shit. Why is this tiny brat so heavy?”

Shin Ho-jae quietly agreed. Even with the two of them supporting him, sweat was breaking out on their backs.

“Want some water?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

While Ji Min-chul struggled to take off Du-min’s sneakers and socks as he lay sprawled on the bed, Shin Ho-jae pulled water from the fridge and tossed it to him. Two 500mL bottles of water vanished in an instant. Crushing the empty bottles, Ho-jae spoke to Min-chul.

“Stop it and go rest in your room too.”

“He looks uncomfortable. Just a little more.”

Following the sneakers and socks, Ji Min-chul was now grunting as he peeled off the windbreaker Yuk Du-min was wearing.

Shin Ho-jae watched him while taking off his own windbreaker. He often thought this, but the guy was truly devoted to Yuk Du-min.

The landline phone in the room rang around the time Ji Min-chul had finished tidying up the windbreaker and clothes and had returned with a damp towel.

“Is the phone ringing in the room right now?”

At Min-chul’s question, Shin Ho-jae shrugged and picked up the receiver. He answered since it was ringing, but he wondered why anyone would call a hotel room in the middle of the night.

“Hello?”

─This is Kwon Jung-hyun. You didn’t reply to my message, so I’m calling the room.

“…….”

Hearing the voice over the receiver, Shin Ho-jae instinctively glanced at Ji Min-chul in the room.

It seemed Kwon Jung-hyun had tried to contact him while they were on their way to the room. Because he had been supporting Yuk Du-min, he hadn’t felt the vibration of the message, and he hadn’t thought to check it afterward.

Ho-jae needlessly switched the receiver to the other hand. The side further away from Min-chul.

“…What is it?”

As he spoke in Korean, he felt Min-chul’s gaze.

─I noticed earlier that you didn’t seem drunk. If you have time, I’d like to ask you to keep me company for a drink.

“…….”

Ji Min-chul mouthed, ‘Who is it?’ Aware of Min-chul, Ho-jae chose his words carefully.

“Right now?”

─If my memory serves me correctly, including last week, I believe we have 4 hours left on our contract.

As he said, because the training camp schedule had overlapped awkwardly, there were two weeks’ worth of contract fulfillment days remaining.

Shin Ho-jae listened to the location Kwon Jung-hyun mentioned and quietly hung up the receiver. Seeing Shin Ho-jae put his windbreaker back on, Ji Min-chul asked with a surprised face.

“What? You’re going out now?”

“Yeah. I’m taking the card key, so just close the door behind you when you leave.”

“Who is it? Yong-su hyung?”

“Just… whatever.”

Shin Ho-jae glossed over the answer and left the room. Fortunately, Ji Min-chul didn’t ask any further.

The place Kwon Jung-hyun mentioned was the lounge bar connected to the hotel lobby floor.

It was a place where any player or coach staying at the hotel could visit. He looked around to see if there were any familiar faces, but it seemed no one else had sought out a bar after a dinner that had lasted so late.

Only then did his stiff shoulders relax. Come to think of it, even if they wanted a second round, they would likely do it in their own rooms rather than at an expensive bar where they’d have to pay tips.

He found Kwon Jung-hyun quickly. He was sitting alone at an outdoor table overlooking the swimming pool.

A glass containing an amber-colored drink and a pack of cigarettes lay on the table, but he didn’t touch either, keeping his gaze vacantly fixed forward.

What he was looking at was the water’s surface reflecting a soft yellow light and an elderly couple sitting in front of it.

The man and woman, dressed in comfortable yet neat clothes, were chatting softly while drinking wine. To Ho-jae’s eyes, it was a perfectly ordinary scene.

“…….”

Shin Ho-jae paused for a moment and looked at Jung-hyun.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the night, but the man’s expression looked somewhat lonely.

Lonely? Ho-jae let out a short laugh at the word that came to mind.

Anyone, even the great Yuk Du-min, would look lonely sitting alone in a bar.

“You’re here?”

Shin Ho-jae gave a slight nod, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

“Want a drink?”

“No.”

Since he answered before the sentence was even finished, Kwon Jung-hyun chuckled as if he had expected as much.

“Fair enough. Then I’ll drink alone.”

He drank slowly.

Ho-jae felt a cool breeze and realized the ceiling over the pool area was completely open.

He had only heard the rookie players chatting about the hotel having a pool; this was his first time actually seeing it. Perhaps swimming was prohibited in the evening, as the surface of the water was perfectly still.

It was a scene that could be seen as quite romantic. If only the person sitting in front of him wasn’t Kwon Jung-hyun.

To Shin Ho-jae, it was simply an uncomfortable situation. Since they weren’t drinking or talking, every passing minute felt like an eternity. At this rate, it felt like forever until the four hours would pass.

Shin Ho-jae glanced at Kwon Jung-hyun as he drank. He was wearing a single shirt without a tie, and a few strands of hair fell over his forehead. Compared to the perfect suit he always wore, his attire looked very casual.

Perhaps that was why he gave off a more relaxed, almost negligent impression than when he had seen him at the dinner earlier.

Feeling uncomfortable and bored, Ho-jae’s gaze wandered around the surroundings. Then, his eyes stopped on Kwon Jung-hyun’s hand. He noticed the man fiddling with the corner of the cigarette pack with his long fingers.

“Smoke if you want to.”

“No. Player Shin Ho-jae doesn’t smoke.”

“…….”

“I noticed you didn’t drink earlier, either. It seems not all athletes abstain from drinking like you do.”

“I feel more at ease doing that during training or the season.”

“Is it like a jinx?”

“Not that much, just a habit.”

“Then I suppose it’s not that you can’t drink.”

“……I can drink quite well. At least I’ve never been so drunk that I lost consciousness.”

Kwon Jung-hyun laughed softly, as if some part of that statement was funny. He only curved his lips slightly with a sighing sound, but Ho-jae immediately regretted the remark.

Did he sound too defensive? Did he sound like a child?

As he thought this, Shin Ho-jae suddenly wrinkled his nose. A scent, like crushed dried grass, had suddenly seeped into his nostrils.

The thought instinctively crossed his mind: Did someone release pheromones?

“Do you smell something?”

“Pardon?”

“A scent like dried grass….”

“Ah, the perfume I sprayed before boarding the plane must still be lingering.”

Jung-hyun lifted his wrist to his nose as if to check the scent of his perfume. Ho-jae’s heightened nerves relaxed again.

It was perfume. Once he thought that, it felt like perfume. Why had he thought it was pheromones?

“Why? Is it a scent you dislike?”

“It’s not that, I just momentarily thought it was pheromones.”

“Pheromones?”

Haha, Jung-hyun laughed aloud. He didn’t seem offended.

“Was there pheromone mixed into this perfume? I don’t remember. I’ll check next time.”

“…Do you even wear things like pheromone perfumes?”

“Well, I did when I was younger.”

“…….”

“Because I wanted to be an Alpha.”

Ho-jae shut his mouth and turned his gaze toward the pool.

Since their argument in the hotel room last time, he didn’t know how to react to this topic.

Because no personal conversations like this had occurred in their meetings since then, he had forgotten for a moment.

“Ho-jae, what does your pheromone smell like?”

At the question Jung-hyun tossed out in a light tone, Ho-jae looked at him again.

A trait-bearer’s pheromones were a very intimate matter. That was because they were directly linked to ‘reproduction.’

To explain it in terms Betas could easily understand, it was similar to asking about the size or shape of one’s genitals. Naturally, he was reluctant to answer.

“Ah, did I ask an impolite question? Then you don’t have to answer.”

“…….”

“I was just curious. Since I’m a Beta, I never experience it. Even things sold as pheromone perfumes don’t seem any different from regular perfume to me.”

“…Why did you lie earlier?”

“Lie?”

“The story about Teacher Yeon Ma-sil, the gym facilities… the things you said in front of the players. You, of all people, should know best that I never said those things.”

Jung-hyun looked at him with wide eyes.

“Did I? In my memory, those were things Player Shin said, so that’s why I said it.”

“…….”

Liar.

If he had answered his question honestly, Ho-jae might have told him about his pheromone scent. He was a liar until the very end.

It was a useless thought. What did it matter if Kwon Jung-hyun lied, or if he remembered incorrectly? Shin Ho-jae shook his head slightly to drive the thoughts away.

It was then that he heard a small laugh. Turning his head, he saw Jung-hyun’s face wearing a slightly relaxed smile.

As he stared at him, questioning why he was laughing, Jung-hyun spoke.

“No, I just thought it would take a long time for us to get close at this rate.”

“…….”

“Considering we’ve rubbed lips and exchanged saliva. Don’t you agree?”

Ho-jae looked around in panic.

Rubbing lips and saliva in a hotel where players and coaches were staying. Even if no one was visible right now, there might be ears listening.

“There’s no one here. Don’t you remember Pete being so excited making somaek earlier? Everyone was carried out. Except for you, Ho-jae, who didn’t touch a drop of alcohol.”

At those words, he suddenly remembered the conversation Jung-hyun and Peter had been having.

“You’re the one who brought Coach Peter to the Korean restaurant, right?”

Kwon Jung-hyun blinked slowly, then let out an ‘ah’ of realization as if he had just remembered.

“Since I’ve been speaking only Korean, I keep forgetting that you speak English, Ho-jae. I should be careful with my words.”

“You seem to be very close with Coach Peter.”

“Well, yes. We’ve known each other for a long time.”

“…Did you dismiss Coach Park because of Peter?”

Jung-hyun raised an eyebrow and looked at Shin Ho-jae as if it were amusing. Realizing his slip, Ho-jae shut his mouth.

“I simply thought it would be a good opportunity. For the Blue Wolves, and for Pete.”

“…….”

It was an answer with nothing to criticize, yet a part of his chest felt strangely tight. It was like a feeling of something left unresolved.

In truth, he didn’t want to ask this kind of question, but rather about Coach Peter’s behavior he had seen earlier. It had been strangely clingy for just friends.

Since they had known each other for a long time, exactly what was their relationship? Since Peter was also an Alpha, did he also want to taste the trace amount of pheromones in saliva, just as he had demanded from Ho-jae?

18 – Puck Drop