By Zephyria His voice held a lingering reluctance to leave, but Kwon Tae-hee straightened up as if there was no need for reconsideration. With a perfectly composed face, as if he had never been disheveled in the first place, he grasped Seo Jeong-won’s wrist.
He stared intently at Seo Jeong-won with deeply sunken eyes.
His neck felt warm, and his cheeks were flushed. In the elevator, he had assumed it was just the afterglow of sex, as it always had been, but now it looked as if his body was inflamed by Pheromones.
“Seo Gyu-won was the one who received the Pheromone shower, but anyone would think I was doing something with Seo Jeong-won.”
At the playful remark, Seo Jeong-won looked startled, as if he had something to hide. It was an excessive reaction.
His mumbling denials and averted gaze seemed to scream, ‘I’m lying.’
“Ah.”
Suspicion began to sprout. Kwon Tae-hee casually responded and helped Seo Jeong-won to his feet. Had he perhaps manifested? He tilted his head slightly, checking the scent emanating from the warm nape of his neck.
He couldn’t detect any Pheromones, and there was no reason for Seo Jeong-won to hide it from him. Wouldn’t it be better if he manifested? Kwon Tae-hee held his wrist, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin.
“It would be good to get you checked out to see if you’re sick. It’s also bothersome that I can’t properly enjoy our sex because I’m worried about you every time, Seo Jeong-won.”
Kwon Tae-hee deliberately used sex as an excuse. He said he couldn’t properly enjoy it because he was worried, but he knew better than anyone that he was actually overdoing it.
“I’ll make an appointment, so keep your schedule open.”
“The room is a little warm, that’s why. I’m not sick. I went to the hospital… I told you that time. I said I was fine.”
Suspicion deepened. Whether it was manifestation or illness, something had definitely changed, and there seemed to be a reason why he couldn’t go to the hospital. Kwon Tae-hee persistently urged him.
“Your cheeks are flushed. A fever is a sign that something is wrong with your body. If you’re not sick, were you perhaps aroused watching Hyung get a Pheromone shower?”
“Ah… no.”
“If it’s not that, then you must be sick.”
He rubbed the back of his hand against his hot cheeks. Seo Jeong-won shook his head, avoiding the intense gaze that seemed to be trying to uncover what he was hiding.
It felt like something was creaking. He wanted to act nonchalant, but he couldn’t.
“I’m really, really fine. It’s just hot in here. Executive Director, aren’t you, aren’t you hot?”
Whether he didn’t know that the room temperature was kept constant, or whether he couldn’t think of a suitable excuse, Kwon Tae-hee didn’t affirm or deny the flimsy excuse, and instead wrapped his arm around Seo Jeong-won’s shoulders.
“How many Pheromone showers would you like?”
He asked, looking into his face, which was filled with a sense of dismay.
“…I’m not sure about the number. But I think it would be better to discuss it with the doctor next time and come on that date.”
“I don’t know when I’ll have time again. But you know,”
Kwon Tae-hee paused for a moment. Seo Jeong-won’s gaze naturally went to his tightly closed lips.
“I’m just asking because I’m curious, do you think Hyung will wake up if he gets them often?”
At the direct question, Seo Jeong-won raised his eyes and met his gaze. Even under the pale lighting, he couldn’t help but stare at Kwon Tae-hee, who shone alone.
In his soft, light brown eyes, there wasn’t even a grain of rice’s worth of expectation that Seo Gyu-won would wake up.
Unlike his gentle and kind appearance, his insides were colder than the dead of winter. It was clear that he was only here because of his request.
“Seo Jeong-won.”
“…I’m hoping that he will.”
He didn’t know if he would wake up, but he couldn’t completely give up hope. Seo Jeong-won, averting his gaze from the face he had been looking at for so long, continued.
“That’s why… I’m getting Executive Director’s help.”
“Ah.”
Seo Jeong-won knew quite accurately what he was doing with Kwon Tae-hee. They were both using each other, with Seo Gyu-won as the common subject.
Had he been underestimating him too much just because he was young? He thought he was manipulating him nicely in the palm of his hand, thinking he was ignorant of the world.
“Check with the doctor and let me know the date. I’ll see if I can make time.”
“…Yes.”
Kwon Tae-hee embraced the shoulder that fit snugly in his arms and slowly left the hospital room. Just when he thought he was being quietly led away, Seo Jeong-won asked him to wait a moment and pulled away from his arm. Then, limping slightly, he took a few awkward steps away and took out his phone.
His soft voice, as if he was talking to the caregiver, echoed through the empty hallway. He ended the call with a request to watch over him for a few more hours and a thank you, before taking the phone away from his ear.
“I think we can go now.”
“Okay.”
Seo Jeong-won quietly followed behind Kwon Tae-hee, one step behind. It wasn’t intentional avoidance, but he was reluctant to walk in his arms like before,
It might seem sudden, but as he became more conscious of Seo Gyu-won, he felt uncomfortable being close to him in the hospital.
The two stood side by side in front of the elevator. Their awkwardly separated figures were reflected in the door with the hospital logo diagonally across it.
Seo Jeong-won was shrinking his thin body as much as possible. Kwon Tae-hee finally realized what had been bothering him. It was like he was acting as if he had committed something immoral.
Was he feeling some pathetic sense of guilt? He flinched and recoiled at the slightest movement of his hand. He was too ambiguously moral, Kwon Tae-hee mocked himself.
“Seo Jeong-won.”
“Yes?”
Even now, his thin shoulders flinched at the sound of his name.
“Are you uncomfortable? With me giving Seo Gyu-won Pheromone showers, I mean.”
“Me? No. I’m… I’m always grateful. I’m really glad that Executive Director is helping…”
“Doesn’t look like it. I must have misunderstood.”
Kwon Tae-hee turned his head and met Seo Jeong-won’s eyes. He reached out and lightly pulled the body he had wanted to keep by his side all along.
He continued, looking at Seo Jeong-won, who had been dragged along and barely stood side by side, through the elevator door that reflected their figures.
“You’re acting like you’re having an affair with Hyung’s fiancé.”
At the accurate remark, Seo Jeong-won raised his head, which had been deeply bowed. He was mumbling that it wasn’t like that, but he was originally bad at expressing his emotions, so it was all on his face. How did he know? That was the feeling.
“I’m not anything to Seo Gyu-won, so I feel disgusted when I get that kind of misunderstanding.”
“…”
“Shall we go?”
A cheerful arrival chime echoed through the quiet hospital. Kwon Tae-hee firmly held onto the trembling Seo Jeong-won and boarded the narrow space.
He clicked his tongue softly at Seo Jeong-won, who was standing there blankly as if his soul had left his body, and pressed the lobby floor button. The elevator descended rapidly.
Even on the way to the parking lot, Seo Jeong-won was quiet, as if lost in thought. Just before opening the passenger seat door to let him in, he looked up at Kwon Tae-hee with hazy eyes.
“…Executive Director.”
“Yes.”
“Back then. You said Hyung… had changed his mind.”
“I did.”
No matter how closely he examined Kwon Tae-hee’s calm expression, it was difficult to guess what he was thinking. Seo Jeong-won continued in a sighing voice.
“I think you said that persuasion wasn’t going well… I’m curious what kind of persuasion you were doing.”
It was a sudden question. Kwon Tae-hee met the gaze of Seo Jeong-won, who was looking up at him with innocent eyes, and opened his mouth.
“I asked him to keep his promise. Communication wasn’t going well. I said that both I and Seo Gyu-won were emotional.”
Kwon Tae-hee briefly recalled the situation at that time. In his memory, Seo Gyu-won’s face was blurry, but his attitude of demanding affection to the point of disgust was clear.
He said he wanted to have the child of the person he loved. He was already in love with him, so he wanted him to love him too. It was a unilateral and selfish demand.
In fact, Kwon Tae-hee was still frustrated because he didn’t know why Seo Gyu-won loved him.
Where was the affection in this kind of relationship? He had only kept up his business manners, and he got a love confession in return.
When he made Seo Gyu-won, who was wallowing in delusions as if it were fate, realize reality, he cried with a pale face. He cried, stopped, and cried again, threatening to go to his parents and tell them everything.
He had only brought in an Omega to use comfortably. The moment Seo Gyu-won craved his emotions, he was reduced to a useless object. Kwon Tae-hee was disgusted by Seo Gyu-won. He was so disgusted that he thought, are all Omegas like that?
However, he only gave him time to change his mind because he didn’t want to repeat the troublesome process of bringing in another Omega with similar conditions.
But Seo Gyu-won chose to commit suicide as if to tell him to go to hell.
“Did Hyung… perhaps like Executive Director?”
His moonlit eyes trembled weakly. Kwon Tae-hee looked at the cheeks where the redness had subsided in the deepening dawn air and replied.
“Seo Gyu-won was a smart man.”
“…”
“Get in.”