“What brought that on all of a sudden.”
“I was dragged around all day and it was exhausting. All I did was become an alpha, and I couldn’t figure out what everyone found so interesting — answering questions, keeping up a smile, it was all tiring. My head was killing me from the pheromones, and then you came and got me out of there.”
It made sense he was worn out. Just from what I’d seen alone, I’d lost count of how many times it had happened. On top of that, since the pheromones started coming in, Chae Jinyeong seemed to be feeling fatigue much more heavily.
When we came down to the first floor, Chae Jinyeong dropped his head onto my shoulder with a thud and drew in a breath like he was taking in a scent. I shrugged my shoulder as if to ask what he was doing, and Chae Jinyeong pulled up the corners of his mouth and looked pleased.
“You smell good.”
“……”
“Yuhan, your scent is my favorite.”
The way he was being all sweet and clingy was just cute. His words, offered up despite all those pheromones around him — instead of responding, I reached up and stroked his cheek with my fingers.
“Glad to hear it.”
Chae Jinyeong scrunched up the bridge of his nose looking at me, just like he always did. Seeing that face full of mischief, I offered him the crook of my neck as if to say, do whatever you like.
“Jinyeong hyung!”
The moment we walked in the door, Im Hanhi spotted Chae Jinyeong and came running. He was my sibling, but could anyone really like Chae Jinyeong this much.
“Hey, Hanhi.”
The moment we stepped through the inner door, Im Hanhi stopped right in front of Chae Jinyeong and started chattering away.
“Do you like Chae Jinyeong that much?”
“Obviously! Jinyeong hyung has been playing with me since I was a baby. And he’s super nice!”
“Well, look at that. Apparently he’s nice to you.”
“Yeah, I am nice.”
Chae Jinyeong grinned playfully and ruffled Im Hanhi’s hair — considerably shorter than himself. Im Hanhi, now in second year of middle school, was still growing. Even so, having only just barely cleared 170 centimeters, there was still a full head’s difference between Im Hanhi and either me or Chae Jinyeong. That probably made them feel even younger.
“Hyung, hyung. Have fun! I have to head out.”
“Who are you meeting. Girlfriend? Have you told Mom?”
“……Not yet! So don’t say anything!”
It wasn’t like Im Hanhi had only just started becoming aware of that sort of thing — but at the word girlfriend, their face went bright red and they started huffing at me. Since Im Hanhi was also a beta, I didn’t have any other worries. I looked at them for a moment, then nodded as if to say, understood. A younger sibling with a gap in age is rather satisfying to tease.
“Be home at a reasonable time, and call if you’re going to be late. I’ll come get you.”
“Okay okay.”
And with that, they brushed past me and frantically started putting on their shoes. The not yet confirmed that they definitely had feelings for someone. Seeing a kid whose face gave everything away made me want to tease them — but they were too endearing to actually go through with it.
Chae Jinyeong, who had come inside, was watching Im Hanhi leave when he stopped them.
“Hanhi.”
And then, as if he’d thought of something, he pulled out his wallet, took out some money, and pressed it into Im Hanhi’s hand.
“Get something good to eat with your friend.”
“Oh wow!”
“Hey, Chae Jinyeong.”
“Thank you so much! I’ll put it to good use! Jinyeong hyung is the best! Go, Jinyeong hyung!”
And then, as if they’d known I was about to say something, they bolted out the door in an instant. I watched them go with a look of disbelief. Seeing my furrowed brow, Chae Jinyeong just smiled as if he genuinely couldn’t see the problem.
“What was that just now.”
“I gave Hanhi some spending money.”
“Aren’t you a little too unapologetic about it.”
“What’s wrong with it. I gave it so they could have a good time.”
The problem was that the fifty-thousand-won bill had been a little too conspicuous for having a good time. I knew well enough that Chae Jinyeong’s family was well-off and that he had plenty of pocket money — but watching him hand it over so freely to someone who wasn’t even his own family made my head throb.
“I told you not to give money to Im Hanhi. Don’t tell me you’ve been giving them spending money regularly lately too.”
“You said not to give it for no reason at all. Today they’re going to meet someone they like — it’d be a bit sad to be stingy, don’t you think.”
I already knew he’d been giving Im Hanhi money regularly before, and I’d gotten on him for it. At the time, Chae Jinyeong had said he understood and that he’d stop just handing it over.
And on top of that — thinking back to how Im Hanhi had looked today, all dressed up to go see that not yet girlfriend, I found I had nothing left to say.
“I can see very clearly why Hanhi likes you.”
“I’m nice to them because I want them to like me.”
“Still, don’t give money next time. You’ll spoil them.”
“Yes, yes — coming from who, I’d better listen.”
But the smile that followed wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“So don’t get mad at me. If you raise your voice, I might get so scared I cry.”
“As if you’d cry. When have I ever gotten mad?”
At that moment, Chae Jinyeong lowered his head with a look of complete nonchalance. The sudden closeness froze me in place. I felt like I could count every one of his long eyelashes. Somehow my mouth had gone dry. The instant our eyes met, Chae Jinyeong pulled one corner of his mouth up — and then carefully pressed his fingertip against the spot between my brows.
“Here?”
Then he laughed like it was all a joke and straightened up. Moving naturally into the living room, he leaned his back against the sofa. The spot Chae Jinyeong had touched felt tingly. That strange sensation left me flustered.
Then Chae Jinyeong patted the cushion beside him as if urging me over, and only then did I let out a quiet breath. Staring at him like he was unbelievable was just a bonus. But Chae Jinyeong kept right on smiling softly.
Since both Chae Jinyeong’s parents and mine worked, we’d spent a lot of time hanging out at each other’s places over the years. We both knew not just the door codes but where everything was — at this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we each had two homes.
I grabbed some drinks from the fridge and brought them over, and Chae Jinyeong took his with a thanks.
“Want to play a game? You know, that one you like.”
“Yuhan, are you trying to lose to me again?”
“Who’s losing.”
Chae Jinyeong took off the dress shirt he’d been wearing and set it beside him. It was nothing more than the same school uniform with just a black short-sleeved shirt underneath — yet somehow, Chae Jinyeong looked a little different right now. I sat on the floor below the sofa and watched him quietly.
Come to think of it — yeah. Nothing seemed to have changed, and yet somehow he gave off a feeling different from before. Strange emotions stirring up from knowing Chae Jinyeong was an alpha.
It had been the same when I’d seen him with Han Juwon at school. What exactly changes when you become an alpha. Pheromones? When Chae Jinyeong was going through presentation pain, he was definitely……
“Do you still think I’m pretty?”
“……What?”
“No, just — you kept staring.”
Looking at Chae Jinyeong with his eyes curving up in a smile, I let out a helpless laugh.
“Yeah. Thought you looked pretty so I was looking.”
“Then you can keep looking.”
“Oh, thank you very much. Let me get a proper look at that expensive alpha face then. This beta has absolutely no idea what’s supposed to change when someone becomes an alpha.”
Chae Jinyeong stared at my face as if thinking something over, and then reached out and pulled me by the wrist. Caught in his grip and pulled up from the floor below the sofa, I ended up sitting next to him. Chae Jinyeong turned to face me, then drew my hand along and pressed it to his cheek. Soft skin met my palm.
“My face hasn’t really changed. I only need to be pretty to you, so I’m not exactly sad about that either.”
“You were half dead from fever and now suddenly all your confidence is back. Though you do look like you’ve lost a bit of weight, no?”
“You’re not going to say it? That you hate even a little bit of me disappearing — something like that.”
“You’ve been watching too many dramas.”
At his slightly sulky expression, I pulled up the corner of my mouth and gave his cheek a light pat. Chae Jinyeong was in the middle of casting his eyes down in a pout when — having thought of something wicked, judging by the smile that appeared — he slowly moved my hand to his chest. And then he trailed it all the way down in one smooth motion, which left me a little taken aback.
