Click.
The call hung up just like that. It was Wonha who had never hung up first like this. Sangho felt that the situation was going very wrong. With a desolate heart, putting his phone in his pocket and turning to look at the community room, his eyes met Han Kyungoh’s, who was watching him with arms crossed from inside the glass door. It was still an indifferent face with no change in expression.
Suddenly, irritation surged in Sangho and he just turned around and went up to the apartment. He called Wonha several more times, but he didn’t answer. Sangho sat on the living room sofa with a headache-inducing expression.
Why is he being like that?
Come to think of it, Wonha got angry because Kyungoh suddenly asked ‘where will you shower.’ When someone is having a private phone call, why did Han Kyungoh suddenly butt in like that? When the thought suddenly popped up that he seemed to have fought with Wonha because of that, his insides boiled.
A moment later, the sound of Kyungoh entering through the front door came. Sangho deliberately didn’t look at the door and looked elsewhere. The sound of rustling and entering the bathroom came, and soon water sounds. It seemed he was showering after exercising. A moment later, when Kyungoh came out shaking his wet hair, Sangho asked in a sullen voice.
“Why did you butt into someone else’s call?”
“You said he was a friend.”
“What?”
“If he’s a friend, whether you shower or not. Why does he care?”
He was at a loss for words. Kyungoh was looking at Sangho with a calm expression. It was true. He just wanted to introduce Wonha to Kyungoh. But Wonha said he wasn’t interested in Kyungoh, and rather seemed extremely offended that he and Kyungoh were together. Why is that?
“…”
When Sangho couldn’t continue speaking, Kyungoh raised his eyebrows once and went into his room. With the addition of a word not to forget to drink his protein shake.
Sangho clutched his hair with an even more confused face. The strangest thing was Wonha’s reaction. He was completely convinced he was an omega, and reacted extremely sensitively to the words that he hadn’t taken suppressants. It seemed like he thought he was being threatened by Kyungoh, who was an alpha.
Wonha originally knew ‘Sangho.’ I didn’t know what kind of relationship. Was ‘Sangho’ an omega then? But they were simply a celebrity and fan relationship. Why is it such a sensitive matter that I’m with an alpha?
He thought until his head hurt, but couldn’t grasp a clue. Sangho stayed up all night that day with his eyes open.
* * *
“Haah… I’m exhausted.”
The next day, Sangho went to work at the university and cleaned, having barely slept at all. He had agonized over it all night, but still couldn’t quite figure out why Wonha had gotten angry. Barely managing to keep his drooping eyelids open, Sangho finished cleaning for the day and trudged back to Kyungoh’s place.
After getting off the bus, Sangho remembered Wonha’s threatening voice telling him not to meet with Kyungoh, and hesitated on the opposite side of the main street. It seemed like Wonha would probably return to Korea today. Between Nam Dohyun’s pheromone-filled studio apartment and Han Kyungoh’s house, there was no comparison as to which was safer. After watching the crosswalk change between red and green lights several times, Sangho sighed and headed back to Kyungoh’s place.
Drring, ding.
Just as he was about to enter the apartment building entrance, Sangho’s phone rang. It was ‘Jjang Wonha.’ Sangho answered the phone with a slightly tense expression.
“Hello?”
—Where are you? Why aren’t you at your studio apartment?
“Uh… I’m in front of Jinje Apartments.”
—I’ll come there.
The call abruptly cut off again. Sangho thought again about whether he had done something wrong, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why Wonha was reacting so sensitively. Even so, it was also true that he felt somewhat conscious of how much Wonha seemed to be fretting over this. Sangho let out a deep sigh. For now, let’s meet. I need to meet him and ask why he’s so angry.
Wonha appeared before Sangho in just a few minutes. Finding Sangho standing in the apartment complex with an extremely anxious expression, Wonha ran over in one bound and embraced Sangho in his arms. Sangho was flustered by the sudden hug. The scent of the body wash that always came from Wonha spread through the warm embrace.
“Haah… Hyung.”
“Ugh. Wonha.”
“I thought I was going to go crazy. Let’s go to the studio first. We need to talk.”
After rubbing his cheek against the top of Sangho’s head for a moment, Wonha grabbed and pulled Sangho’s hand. However, Sangho hesitated at Wonha’s suggestion to go to the studio.
“The, the studio?”
“Yeah. I brought you a gift. Let’s go unwrap it.”
“W-wait a minute.”
As Sangho hesitated, Wonha made a puzzled expression, then looked behind Sangho and instantly turned cold-faced. Seeing Wonha’s chilly expression for the first time, Sangho also turned around. Before he knew it, Han Kyungoh was standing at an angle behind them with his arms crossed. Standing his massive body upright, Han Kyungoh spoke in a slow voice.
“Could you let go of that hand?”
“…Han Kyungoh-ssi.”
“Sangho has to exercise with me.”
“What?”
Wonha’s face instantly contorted. As strength entered Wonha’s hand, which was clenching his molars tight, the gripped wrist started to hurt with a sharp pain.
“Ow.”
“Ah, hy-hyung. Sorry.”
When Sangho made a sound of pain, Wonha instantly relaxed his expression and checked on Sangho. Then from behind came the sound of Han Kyungoh’s scoffing laugh.
“Good acting.”
“…Hyung. Let’s just go.”
When Wonha simply ignored Kyungoh’s words and pulled Sangho’s hand again, Sangho made a troubled expression. The two had finally met, but the atmosphere was too strange. Moreover, Wonha’s studio… Now that Nam Dohyun had appeared, going into Wonha’s space was too dangerous.
Meanwhile, Han Kyungoh came right up to Sangho and snatched the wrist where Wonha was holding Sangho’s hand. Kwak, as the sound of skin being squeezed came out, Wonha slightly frowned. Still, Wonha didn’t let go of Sangho’s hand. Han Kyungoh, practically hugging Sangho from behind, spoke in a threatening voice.
“I told you. Sangho has to exercise with me.”
“Cocky bastard. Am I your hyung?”
“No. You’d be the friend.”
Han Kyungoh raised one corner of his mouth and spoke mockingly. Then Wonha’s pupils contracted with excitement and a blood vessel bulged on his forehead. It seemed he had properly gotten under his skin.
“Then what are you?”
“The person Sangho said he’d take responsibility for.”
“Wait, wait! Why are you both like this? Huh?”
In that moment, Sangho discovered Wonha balling his other hand into a fist and tensing it, and jumped into Wonha’s arms in shock. He’s preparing to hit him right now, isn’t he?
At Sangho suddenly clinging to him, Wonha relaxed his face again and embraced Sangho’s waist with gentle eyes. Kyungoh ground his teeth at Sangho escaping from his arms in an instant.
“Hyuuung…”
“Why, why are you like this? Why are you angry?”
“Let’s just go, I said. I can see clearly that hyung is uncomfortable with that bastard.”
“…The, the studio won’t work.”
“…Hyung?”
Wonha’s expression colored with confusion. He seemed shocked that Sangho had rejected his suggestion.
“Th-then at least hyung’s studio apartment—”
“No way!”
When Sangho, even more shocked, shouted, Wonha now made a hurt-looking face. Sangho began stammering to placate Wonha with an anxious heart.
“I-it’s not that I won’t talk. First, um… I have to help with rehabilitation exercises. So, l-la-later. Let’s talk later.”
“You heard, right? He says he’s going to exercise with me.”
At Kyungoh’s annoying interjection, Sangho scowled, but Wonha already had a deeply hurt expression. Seeing that face, Sangho’s heart ached as if it was being stabbed repeatedly. He didn’t want to see Wonha sad.
“Wonha…”
“…Fine.”
Wonha stiffened his face just like that and turned around coldly. Sangho stood there for a moment watching Wonha walk away, then as if suddenly coming to his senses, quickly tried to follow. But before that, Han Kyungoh snatched Sangho’s arm.
“Aren’t we going to exercise?”
“What? You think we should exercise in this situation?”
“You said you’d take responsibility.”
At Kyungoh stubbornly insisting with a blank expression, Sangho’s face twisted fiercely. Seeing that, Kyungoh flinched and quietly let go of the arm he was holding. Sangho barely held back his anger and threw a warning at Kyungoh.
“Han Kyungoh. I already knew you look down on me. But Wonha is my friend. Don’t treat him carelessly.”
“…”
Sangho, who had been glaring at Kyungoh with cold eyes, turned around just like that and ran toward Wonha. Left alone, Kyungoh stood there dumbly, then frowned with a sigh.
“…Damn it.”
“Wonha! Jang Wonha!”
Sangho ran at full speed toward Wonha, who was getting into his car in the distance, and caught up to him. Wonha had paused while opening the car door with drooping shoulders upon seeing Sangho running over.
