4.
“Oh dear, take your time. Did you run here? You said you weren’t feeling well…”
Gasping for breath, Lee Jeong bowed his head to the woman who opened the door for him.
“Oh my… there’s no color in your face at all. Come in quickly. Rest a bit before you go.”
[I’m fine…]
“Hurry up. Dokyung just fell asleep. Are you going to carry a sleeping child on your back?”
As soon as Lee Jeong took off his shoes and fumbled to pull out his notebook to write, Yoonkyung grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.
There was no one in the living room. However, Lee Jeong unconsciously narrowed his brow slightly and sniffed. What remained was unmistakably the scent of an alpha. Lee Jeong’s face was full of questions as he smelled a scent that shouldn’t be coming from this house.
Yoonkyung, who approached belatedly, opened the door with an apologetic look. Knowing full well that he had been tormented by men all night, she seemed extremely sorry to Lee Jeong, an omega, for leaving traces of an alpha behind.
“Ah… the alpha smell, it’s uncomfortable, right? I’m sorry, I can’t smell it so I didn’t think about it. I should air it out.”
[It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it that much.]
Lee Jeong said that and tried to smile. But he wasn’t really as unbothered as his words suggested. His body flinched involuntarily at the dense pheromones. Lee Jeong sat down carefully on the sofa, trying to hide his agitated state.
A heavy sandalwood scent was deeply layered. Heavy and dark, but soft and elegant. Judging by how quite concentrated it was, it seemed to be a dominant alpha.
So Yoonkyung-ssi has an older brother. A dominant alpha at that… He had never heard about this before.
“Dokyung is sleeping in the bedroom. You’re hungry, right, Lee Jeong-ssi?”
As Lee Jeong shook his head vigorously and gestured with both hands to decline, Yoonkyung frowned slightly, then went into the kitchen.
“You always say you’re not hungry. Eat something, and when Dokyung wakes up, you can leave then.”
Lee Jeong had never been able to win against Yoonkyung when she was this firm. With a grateful yet apologetic heart, Lee Jeong stood up awkwardly. It felt a bit embarrassing to just sit and receive food. However, dizziness soon washed over him, and Lee Jeong plopped back down on the sofa without realizing it.
“Stay seated. You must have overexerted yourself running here.”
Yoonkyung, who read Lee Jeong’s state like a ghost, shouted from the kitchen. Lee Jeong leaned back on the sofa feeling a bit sheepish.
His rapid breathing slowly calmed down. Through the wide-open window, cold wind blew in sharply, and he could feel the deeply settled alpha scent slowly dissipating.
A good smell.
Lee Jeong was startled by his own thought as he sat there blankly.
The alphas he had been with so far were enough to cause an overload. Receiving so many alphas with his body, he had smelled just as many different pheromones. But not even once had he rationally welcomed their scent. His body honestly went into heat and showed the reactions they wanted, but mentally it was different.
Rather, it was disgusting. The scent of those who tore his body apart so terribly. As a result, not only at the establishment but also outside, he hated and felt uncomfortable with the scent of alphas to the point of nausea. Yoonkyung had witnessed this several times, so it was no wonder she apologized and aired out the place as soon as Lee Jeong arrived.
But strangely, the man’s scent lingering in this house was comfortable.
It wasn’t a scent that rushed in chaotically and forcibly tried to pry Lee Jeong’s body open. It was a comfortable pheromone that gently embraced him. That feeling was so similar to a certain person’s that Lee Jeong flinched in surprise.
‘…No.’
But he soon shook his head to dismiss that thought.
There’s nothing good about thinking of that person. Besides, to smell another person’s pheromone scent and think of him—that’s disrespectful both to that person and to Yoonkyung’s older brother. As Lee Jeong was thinking such thoughts blankly, he stood up abruptly upon seeing Yoonkyung carrying food on a tray.
“Again, again. If you get up that quickly, you’ll collapse.”
Lightly scolding Lee Jeong, Yoonkyung set the tray down on the tea table. Warm green tea, cookies, and roll cake. Lee Jeong bowed his head.
“You have a lot of stuff today, so I’ll give you a ride.”
Saying that, Yoonkyung smiled playfully. Come to think of it, that playful smile looked just like someone… Thinking that, Lee Jeong shook his head vigorously once more. Today, the symptom of constantly thinking of that person was particularly severe.
“It’s useless to refuse. You really have a lot of stuff today. My oppa bought so much. For the baby.”
Yoonkyung smiled and pointed at the plastic bag next to the sofa. As she said, the bag was huge, and inside the translucent plastic bag, baby snacks and drinks were packed tight.
[Thank you. I’ve caused a lot of trouble for your oppa too. I’m sorry to you too on a holiday, Yoonkyung-ssi.]
“Don’t say that. Dokyung is a special baby to me.”
Grinning, Yoonkyung handed him a fork.
“Eat quickly. I ate a lot of lunch with my oppa earlier, so I’m full.”
Bowing his head, Lee Jeong picked up the fork. He took a bite of the roll cake and put it in his mouth. The soft bread and cream melted gently in his mouth.
“But… what will we do if you’re sick? It’ll be a big problem if the baby gets sick too…”
[That’s what I’m worried about too. I hope you don’t catch it, Yoonkyung-ssi…]
“Oh, I’m an adult so I’m fine. But if the baby gets sick, he won’t be able to go to daycare…”
Listening to Yoonkyung’s worried words, Lee Jeong also let out a small sigh. As expected, the most difficult time is when the child is sick. Yoonkyung has to go to work during the day, and although he could skip sleeping during the day and take care of the child while working at night, it would be tough to go to work at the establishment without any sleep at all.
It can’t be helped. The only option is to be as careful as possible not to pass on the cold. The man who had torn through his body all night while having a cold suddenly felt resentful. In any case… he’s a detestable man. Thinking that, Lee Jeong silently drank the hot tea.
*
“Mr. Choi Wookyung, welcome. Your face looks better?”
Hyunjin smiled gently and placed his clasped hands on the desk.
This was already the third visit from the dominant alpha man. While Hyunjin was easily wearing a smile on his face, pleased by his repeated return visits, the dominant alpha man nodded his head slightly across from him.
“Yes. The medicine you prescribed seems to be working well.”
“Oh… I see. That’s good to hear.”
While it’s good that the medicine is working, insomnia medication is pretty much all the same anyway. There’s no way he hasn’t used this type of medication once in the past three years. Then, while the man firmly believes it’s because the medication is working well, there’s actually a possibility that there’s another cause. Thinking that far, Hyunjin tapped the paper with his pen and asked strangely.
“By any chance, have you recently had a good night’s sleep?”
“Yes. The day before yesterday…”
The man answered in a low voice, frowning slightly.
“I think… I slept for about eight hours.”
“Sleeping that long at once without waking up, that’s the first time in months, right?”
“…I can’t even remember. It might be the first time in years.”
“I see.”
Still tapping the paper with his pen, Hyunjin fell into thought, then asked again.
“Have you changed any conditions besides the medicine you’re taking? Did you change where you sleep, or when you sleep, or… did a worry get resolved, things like that?”
“Nothing in partic…”
The man’s voice, about to answer carelessly, stopped. Though it was a subtle crack, Hyunjin didn’t miss observing the fissure of confusion on the man’s face. Like an eagle gripping its prey, he asked gently as if slowly tightening his talons.
“It doesn’t have to be a big change. Was there an experience where your body relaxed comfortably? Or, was there something that made you feel good?”
“…Mm.”
The man was clearly hesitating. That in itself was already an answer. There definitely must have been some significant event. Hyunjin didn’t rush and waited silently.
After pondering for a moment, the man carefully gave an answer.
“…There was something.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Mm… I went somewhere, and an omega’s scent…”
“An omega’s scent?”
Hyunjin gently raised his eyebrows. To deliberately give the man the impression that he was listening carefully, he naturally leaned his upper body forward and placed his clasped hands a bit forward.
“…It was… a scent that made my body extremely comfortable.”
Hyunjin almost burst into laughter at the answer that was less interesting than expected, delivered with difficulty as if making a confession, but he didn’t show it outwardly. Tilting his head to the side slightly, Hyunjin asked again.
“Mm, did you happen to have relations with that omega?”
He could feel the man flinch at the overly explicit question. Hyunjin inwardly ridiculed the alpha man and lightly pushed up his glasses.
“Ah, there’s no need to be surprised. When the pheromones of manifestors match well with each other, it’s sometimes usefully employed in treating insomnia. Of course, the other person would have to be someone you can contact frequently.”
“I didn’t have relations. And… I have no intention of meeting again.”
“Ah… I see.”
Having no intention of meeting again means that if he set his mind to meeting, it wouldn’t be entirely impossible to meet again. Having deduced that, Hyunjin asked again in a light tone.
