Hongdan shook Seonha’s hair roughly, as if pulling out weeds that had been growing for thirty years.
“I told you to stay home quietly! Don’t go wandering around somewhere and get on my nerves! You’re freeloading, so why won’t you listen to the homeowner, you bastard!”
In truth, he knew that his words and actions were nothing but unreasonable. But his hands and mouth, already set in motion, couldn’t be stopped. His fleeting rationality was easily crushed by the momentary rage directed at Seonha.
With a fistful of his hair twisted in Hongdan’s grip, Seonha begged for forgiveness as always, not knowing what he’d done wrong. Hongdan’s grip strength was no joke either—moisture was clearly visible at the corners of Seonha’s eyes.
“Sorry, I’m sorryyy… But could you let go of this? I really, really hurt. At this rate I’m going to go bald, Hongdaaan…”
Naturally, those few drops were far from enough to quell Hongdan’s anger.
Even Hongdan himself didn’t know why he was this angry.
What was that brief absence anyway. When in reality, he knew Seonha would never leave first.
Right. In the end, this was anger directed at himself for coming back to this place, frustration at making such a pathetic decision and still not finding the bookmark.
Acknowledging that childish temperament brought deep self-loathing. So he got even more furious. Thanks to that, only Seonha’s innocent hair was suffering.
“Bald? Hey, why don’t you just go bald and convert to Buddhism at this point? There you won’t need me to prepare your meals, so it’d be way better than staying at my place. And you get lonely easily too. If you’re around lots of people, you won’t be bored. Isn’t that right?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
“If that’s not what you meant, then just quietly get your hair pulled, you bastard.”
“Aaaagh—!”
Seonha’s scream rang through the old villa. Whether that scream was from the pain of having his hair twisted or from the despair of going bald in his vibrant twenties was unclear, but either way, it was as robust as a newborn who’d just seen the light of day.
That’s when it happened.
“Hey, keep it down! Are you two the only ones living in this villa!”
A reprimand came from the direction of the first-floor communal entrance. To Seonha, it sounded like a sacred voice, like a revelation from God.
The cruel act of trimming a person’s perfectly good hair before winter finally ceased.
“Yeah, well. Sorry.”
Though Hongdan’s half-bowed head and tone still had a rebellious edge to them, at least it prevented Seonha’s pretty head from turning into a delicious-looking octopus head.
“Let’s live with consideration for each other, okay? Consideration.”
Whether God possessed such a magnanimous nature as to embrace even this ill-mannered being, or whether he just thought Hongdan was no ordinary lunatic and fled—the man who’d reprimanded the rowdy semi-basement neighbors didn’t say anything more and went back into his home. From his angle, Seonha, who could see the man’s expression, was certain it was the latter.
“…Sniff.”
The tension released, Seonha quietly swallowed his snot. At that sound, Hongdan whipped around to look at Seonha again.
“…Where did you go.”
His voice was still low and sunken, as if his anger hadn’t fully subsided.
“Just quickly to the mart…”
Seonha shook the bag he’d been holding in his left hand. It was made of opaque pink material, but with the green onion stalks sticking out, it was easy to guess that what was inside was the usual groceries he always bought.
Hongdan stared down at it silently. It didn’t seem like he was trying to guess the menu for the dinner Seonha would soon prepare.
After gazing at it for a moment, he slipped inside through the half-open front door. Seonha just tilted his head slightly, and without whining any further, followed him into the house.
Clearly, Hongdan’s expression was still cold. His attitude of not wanting to converse with him was the same as before he’d left the house. Even so, Seonha wasn’t anxious or impatient.
“Thanks, Hongdan.”
Because there was a clear hand holding the door open until he’d completely entered.
A vague expectation arose that they could return to the days like before.
***
It was a meal together after a long time.
Since he’d started ignoring Seonha from the early hours of Monday morning, this was the first time in about three days that they’d sat face to face and clinked their spoons.
…Come to think of it, wasn’t that actually not that long ago?
Hongdan found it funny that he was welcoming the everyday life with Seonha. Fortunately, before his self-mockery could turn into deeper self-loathing, Seonha spoke to him.
“This… you ate this well last time, Hongdan.”
Seonha timidly pushed over a bowl filled with mung bean sprout salad. But what caught Hongdan’s eye more than that was his opposite hand, gripping and releasing the tip of his chopsticks. He seemed to be holding back from placing it directly in Hongdan’s rice bowl while gauging his mood.
Really now.
He almost let out a chuckle.
Without a word, Hongdan picked up a handful of the mung bean sprout salad. Then a smile ten times brighter than what Hongdan had swallowed appeared on Seonha’s face. Wiggling those broad shoulders, he began pushing all the dishes toward Hongdan. His appearance, acting cute while wearing a t-shirt with cooking stains here and there as usual, was quite a sight to see.
“This braised beef, I made it with brisket. It’ll be way more tender than the store-bought kind. Try it.”
“This japchae too! I put in lots of oyster mushrooms that you like, Hongdan.”
“This is deodeok, but I pounded it a ton so it’s not bitter at all. It’s just chewy. Just try it once.”
“And they say winter radish is better than ginseng…”
Even a decent shopping host probably couldn’t hold a candle to Yeon Seonha right now. Every single word flowed smoothly, as if he’d practiced throughout making the side dishes. Amnesia or whatever—Hongdan even thought about just putting Seonha’s perfectly good physique to work and getting him a job at a shopping mall.
Even the way he endlessly praised the food as if it were heavenly cuisine while not actually eating any himself suited that aptitude.
…Right. He’s not eating again.
Hongdan suddenly put down his chopsticks.
“I’m not eating.”
“Huh? Why, why…?”
“Someone’s just talking without eating, so I feel like I’ll get indigestion. If you don’t eat, I won’t eat either.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Seonha’s hand pick up his utensils. Every time he conspicuously put a big scoop of food in his mouth, he glanced at Hongdan. His completely subdued gray eyes seemed to be constantly saying, “I’m eating, Hongdan.”
Now Hongdan couldn’t hold back anymore either.
“Pfft…”
He quickly covered his mouth with plain rice, but the joy inevitably leaked out. To prevent the disaster of rice grains flying out rather than laughter, he covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Pffhh…”
What was he going to push away when he couldn’t even hold back this one thing?
No matter how he thought about it, it had truly been a futile resolution and useless time. But all of those things didn’t feel entirely wasted. If it weren’t for that wandering, he wouldn’t have gotten to see this stupid scene.
“Hongdah (Hongdan)?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Hmm (Hm)?”
“Just that it’s nice watching you eat. Eat a lot.”
“Mmhmm (Okay)!”
Under the table, Hongdan secretly swung his feet, welcoming back his regained peace.
***
However.
Thud—!
“…Yeon Seonha?”
Hongdan’s peace had to be shattered before it could even last three hours.
He didn’t realize it yet, but in Seonha’s room, torn medicine packets had been rolling around for thirty minutes. Along with a crumpled Post-it note that read “For rut.”
Come to think of it, gentle water sounds had been heard from the bathroom for quite a while that day. Up until then, Hongdan had thought Seonha was running water for a half-body bath. But soon, a brutal impact sound that betrayed that dull expectation struck Hongdan’s ears.
It was far too clear to dismiss as coming from outside, and the direction was in front of him, not behind his head. Hongdan realized the noise had come from Seonha and hurriedly got up.
“Ugh.”
But something was strange. Hongdan furrowed his brow and even unconsciously stepped backward.
“What’s with this scent…”
A sweet smell.
A sweet smell so thick it gave him a headache. It was a scent Hongdan knew all too well. His body, trying to react following that scent, was telling him this wasn’t just some spilled perfume or something.
This was an alpha’s pheromone.
…No way.
A bad feeling crept over him. His instincts were warning him not to open that bathroom door. Among the continued sound of water, someone’s extremely rough breathing mixed in. Even that was familiar. Hongdan knew well when he let out breaths like that.
Truly uselessly so.
In fact, despite all these circumstances, the most useless thing would be himself reaching out to turn the doorknob.
The anxiety that had been creeping up from his toes became certainty the moment he threw open that door.
“Ugh.”
“Haah… hah… Ho… Hongdan…”
It was confirmed.
“Ngh… Hongdaaan…”
An overwhelmingly intense pheromone engulfed Hongdan.
“This crazy…”
It was Yeon Seonha’s rut.
