By Zephyria My heart kept pounding lately, perhaps because I was anxious about being caught in a lie. I was startled by even the smallest sounds.
Seo Jeong-won frowned slightly, tapping the fish tank as he watched the fish swarm.
“…Dizzy.”
Perhaps it was the suppressants, but I often felt nauseous. I had thrown up everything I ate since yesterday. This morning, I even had a nosebleed.
Seo Jeong-won closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold glass surface, then abruptly lifted his eyelids at the sound of the vinyl door flapping.
He peeled his forehead away, rubbing the red mark left behind. Turning around, he saw Song Hae-seop entering with a light step. He waved his hand enthusiastically.
“Jeong-won!”
“Oh… how did you get here? No, hello.”
“Wow, the flower garden is amazing. I’ve passed by places like this a few times, but I never thought about going in. But what do you call this smell? Earthy? Grassy? Anyway, it’s really nice.”
Song Hae-seop didn’t hesitate at all, looking around the flower garden with a steady gait. His white cheeks were slightly flushed.
“How have you been? I was worried when I left like that the other day. You’re going to Seoul today, right? I didn’t know what time you were leaving, so I came really early.”
“…Ah.”
“Recommend a few things I can take without spilling soil.”
Song Hae-seop, repeatedly exclaiming in admiration, stopped in front of the area where the foliage plants were gathered and spent a long time looking around.
Then, he slowly approached Seo Jeong-won, who was frozen in front of the iron table. He stopped in front of the square tank, smiling as he watched the swarming fish.
“Cute. The colors are really vibrant and pretty.”
“…”
“Isn’t the tank too small?”
Song Hae-seop seemed unusually cheerful, more so than when they met at Kwon Tae-hee’s house. Seo Jeong-won stepped aside, creating some distance. Song Hae-seop’s gaze followed with a puzzled look at the step-sized gap.
“I asked how you’ve been.”
“…Ah, yes. Yes, I’ve been well.”
“Were you surprised? Did I come too suddenly? I was going to come sooner, but something… came up.”
“No, no. Um… it’s good that you came.”
Seo Jeong-won, trailing off as if testing the waters, chewed over the words he couldn’t bring himself to say. How could he say, Tae-hee wouldn’t like you coming here like this?
If that warning wasn’t just for me, I should let him know, but I don’t know how to say it, my confused mind raced.
“I had my Heat.”
Song Hae-seop, lightly touching a dewy leaf, whispered intimately as if sharing a secret.
Then, he smiled, carefully observing Seo Jeong-won’s face, which looked more haggard than the last time he saw him.
“…Pardon?”
“So I couldn’t be in my right mind for a few days. I guess because it was a moment I had been waiting for so long, I was sad when it ended. The pheromone shower also felt different? Really… how should I put it, blissful?”
Should I congratulate him on something like this? Is he saying this because he wants to be congratulated? Seo Jeong-won couldn’t hide his confusion and nodded. “I see,” he mumbled, smiling awkwardly.
“So I really need some luck right now. You don’t sell that here, do you? Like a four-leaf clover.”
“Luck… we have a money tree.”
“Then I’ll have to buy that. A money tree. The name itself is pure luck. I have a good feeling. I feel vaguely like I’m going to get pregnant, like a baseless confidence.”
Song Hae-seop stretched his arms towards the ceiling as if yawning and continued.
“Since Tae-hee’s genetics are good, I keep getting my hopes up. He’s dominant, after all. But he’s really amazing. I thought I was going crazy. I wonder how amazing his Rut will be?”
He was dominant. Seo Jeong-won averted his gaze as he watched him blush and smile shyly. It was difficult to make eye contact.
Song Hae-seop subtly bumped Seo Jeong-won’s shoulder and asked cautiously.
“Is Rut like that too? It would have been better if it was me instead of you, Jeong-won. They say that during that time, it’s guaranteed pregnancy regardless of recessive or dominant traits.”
Seo Jeong-won mumbled that he didn’t know and shifted his body. He walked aimlessly, not knowing where to go, and picked up a few small succulents from where he stopped and went back.
“These days, if you buy plants, they give you succulents as a service, I’ll give them to Hyung too. You don’t have to water them often, and they like the sun, so if you put them in a sunny place, they’ll grow on their own. And…”
“How do plants live if they don’t drink water often?”
“When the surface here shrivels up like it’s dried out, give it just a little bit then. That’s enough for these.”
Song Hae-seop stared intently at the heart-shaped succulent as if it were fascinating, gently touching the surface and muttering that it was pretty.
He added to himself that even people who weren’t interested in plants would become greedy if they came here.
“Does this have a name too?”
“…It’s called Hoya kerrii, but it’s more commonly known as Heart Hoya because of the shape of the leaves.”
“How are the leaves heart-shaped? You really don’t water it? What if it dries up and dies? Will Jeong-won give me another one if it dies?”
“I’ll give you another one. And… they don’t die easily. Would you like to come this way?”
Seo Jeong-won smiled awkwardly and called Song Hae-seop. He stopped Song Hae-seop in a place where pots smaller than the palm of his hand were placed haphazardly and told him to pick as many as there were pots.
“Just pick?”
“I usually sell these for 2,000 won each, but I’ll just give these to you too.”
“Really? Is that okay? Aren’t you losing too much, Jeong-won? You said the succulents were free too.”
“It’s okay. Succulents look prettier when you put several together than when you have just one. So look around and take whatever you like. You can take a lot.”
At Seo Jeong-won’s words, Song Hae-seop smiled, feeling bewildered. He said that he wouldn’t be able to come here anymore because he felt bad about taking pots without paying.
Seo Jeong-won hardened his curved lips into a straight line. It seemed that Kwon Tae-hee only got angry with me and not with Song Hae-seop. There was probably no warning not to be friendly with him.
It was natural since he was Kwon Tae-hee’s best option, but he felt resentment and bitterness towards him. The only fortunate thing was that he didn’t hate Song Hae-seop despite Kwon Tae-hee’s discrimination.
“Ah, I saw that you can grow these in water too. Can I do that too?”
“The money tree? Yes, that’s right. Some people deliberately grow them hydroponically. Just fill a wide vase with water up to here and put it in a sunny place, and it will grow on its own. Instead, put about this much coarse gravel on the bottom so that the tree and the bottom don’t touch. The roots might rot.”
“It wasn’t that difficult?”
Every time Song Hae-seop walked, shook his head, or waved his hand, pheromones fluttered from him.
It was the same sweet smell I smelled at home, but strangely, it didn’t smell like Kwon Tae-hee.
“Hyung… are you dominant? Is it rude to ask something like this? I don’t really know.”
“What’s rude about it? I didn’t notice when I saw you at home, but seeing you in the flower garden, you really seem like a Baby, Jeong-won.”
Song Hae-seop, who had been picking out pots, stood up and reached out his hand. Long, slender fingers stroked his fine hair. Watching Seo Jeong-won’s beautiful face, obediently receiving the touch, Song Hae-seop continued.
“I’m recessive. I’m a recessive Omega, but unusually, my pheromones are really strong. To the point where people mistake me for being dominant. I was a little tired, so I asked the hospital, and they said that there are cases like me sometimes.”
“…”
“Apart from having a strong scent, I don’t go into Heat easily. I’m a little… defective. But Tae-hee doesn’t know this. It’s a secret just between us. You have to keep it.”
After speaking, Song Hae-seop picked out pots again. He picked out six pots of different colors and shapes and handed them to Seo Jeong-won.
“So now you know how emotional this Heat was for me, right? Finally.”
Song Hae-seop wrinkled his nose and smiled. Seo Jeong-won took a shallow breath and nodded.
“Say a prayer for me, okay?”
“…Yes.”
“Thank you, thank you. Even if I get married and Tae-hee ends up cutting you off, let’s meet up sometimes? I feel like I have a younger brother, and I like it. I really like this place too, it’s so pretty.”
He stopped in front of a daffodil that was starting to sprout green shoots, following behind Seo Jeong-won.
“Where do you plant these?”
“…You can grow them in pots, or you can plant them in the garden. It’s a plant that survives the winter well, which is admirable.”
“Amazing. I should buy some when I make a small flower bed in the garden. It’s good for kids when they’re born, right? Not for me, but emotionally for the kids. I have to do everything that’s good.”
Listening to Song Hae-seop’s voice, who didn’t bother to hide his excited mood, Seo Jeong-won pulled out the succulents and replanted them in new pots. In an instant, the small box was full.
“I’ll move them for you.”
“What, are you telling me to leave quickly? Was I being insensitive and staying here without realizing it?”
“No, it’s not like that. Of course… it’s not, it’s not that.”
At the genuinely disappointed expression, Seo Jeong-won waved his arms wildly, saying no.
Despite the excuse that there was nothing more to see here, Song Hae-seop didn’t hide his disappointment. He stretched out the corners of his mouth and handed over his card for the calculation.