Hyedam, who had briefly let go of Leo’s hand to properly close the bag with the tablet inside, thought Leo would go ahead but when he remained in place, Hyedam slightly lifted his head and jerked his chin.
“Ah, really, why are you like this today?”
At the grumbling-like words while scratching above his eyebrows with his fingertips, Hyedam jerked his chin once more to express his opinion that they should go.
“Are you trying to make things difficult for me?”
No, I’m saying let’s go, why so much chatter? Even after seeing his actions twice, Leo didn’t seem willing to leave, so Hyedam checked his wristwatch.
Can a passport be issued within an hour? I would have to have gotten a passport issued to know. Can you get tickets in real-time during peak season? Robert might be able to…… Ah! He has a private plane, right? But where are we going? There are no spare clothes, toiletries, or anything—do they sell those things at the duty-free shop too?
“Don’t we need to hurry?”
Without answering Leo’s muttering, Hyedam, who had countless situations popping up before this sudden trip and was trying to resolve them, grabbed near Leo’s wrist as he stood there like a jangseung. He wanted to hold hands if he followed his feelings, but that was too ticklish, and it didn’t seem like they were at the stage for such intimate and ticklish actions, so that was the choice he made.
“You hugged me first, begged for more kisses, and when I said let’s travel you immediately followed—this is a dream, right?”
“……Can a passport be issued within an hour? I don’t have clothes, toiletries, nothing. Can you solve all that within an hour?”
Hyedam brought up the most realistic story.
“Why do you need clothes?”
At Leo’s question of why clothes were needed, Hyedam’s heart sank and he raised his head with a jerk, meeting the eyes of Leo who was looking down at him.
“……”
Were we going and coming back today? Did I get too ahead of myself? Usually when you say travel, doesn’t it mean staying at least one night? If he said let’s watch the New Year’s countdown together, doesn’t that mean spending the night together? Watch just the countdown and come home?
Thoughts he couldn’t bring himself to voice poured out, getting entangled with the conversations they’d just had and becoming even more confusing.
“Is it a place that doesn’t need a passport?”
“Do you need clothes?”
Different dreams in the same bed. Though there were occasional situations where they just talked past each other, this was the first time he’d been so off-base. Of course you don’t need clothes for a day trip, and you don’t need toiletries either.
“Wait, let me organize the situation. You just said we’re taking a plane somewhere in about an hour.”
“Yeah, but you’re with me—you need clothes?”
Why do you keep going on about clothes? Whether I’m with you or whoever, of course clothes are necessary.
“Where are we going?”
“Jeju Island. A better place……”
Leo tried to say more, but Hyedam raised his hand to stop his words. If it’s Jeju Island, a day trip is possible. If it’s a private plane, can’t you fly it day or night? So right now, you’re saying let’s just watch the countdown there and come right back? Fuck. I got ahead of myself for no reason and had all kinds of thoughts. No passport needed, no supplies needed, so no reason to hurry either.
Hah…….
Feeling self-loathing that a few honest and simple words of conversation would have solved it, but ambiguous words mixed in the conversation made him even get false hope, Hyedam let go of Leo’s wrist he’d been holding.
“It seems like you’re thinking something off……”
“No. Well. I don’t know my personal schedule for next year yet, but there’s a meeting on the morning of January 3rd.”
Recalling Leo’s official schedule, Hyedam tried hard to calm down his heart that had floated up with excitement. What exactly had he expected, and why had his heart swelled with excitement even for such a short time?
“Your expression is changing again and it seems like you’re planning to pull out, but you should know by now that it’s impossible at this point. Even though you fail every time, seeing things like this, you’re really consistent and persistent.”
Hyedam looked at Leo’s hand that was subtly grabbing his hand. Throughout his life, except when with Junseok, he’d never been told he was small, but compared to him, everything seemed small.
His hand went into Leo’s hand, and as their fingers intertwined one by one, he could fully feel his firm and straight fingers.
“If we had just one or two more days to spare, we could go anywhere our pathetic fool wants to go, but we don’t have much time right now. Even if it’s disappointing this time, let’s go to my parents’ villa in Jeju Island. It’s our first trip, so it’s too wasteful to waste time on the plane. Next time, tell me in advance where you want to go. We can go anywhere.”
The tips of Hyedam’s ears turned deeply red after hearing Leo, who had finally lowered his large body to match eye level and calmly explained.
“Anyway, we’re going to Jeju Island right now so no passport needed, and everything we need will be prepared while we’re going, so how about not thinking about this and that and only thinking about me? Until just a moment ago you said you trust me.”
Clearly he was the older brother, he’d lived longer, had experienced quite a lot, and wasn’t swayed by most things. But whenever he got entangled with him, it seemed like he became a child who knew nothing.
“You have to explain in advance for me to know. How can I know everything when you don’t tell me properly?”
A poor excuse flowed from Hyedam’s mouth as he lowered his gaze to avoid Leo’s eyes.
“You said you weren’t curious and that you trust me.”
“That was a slip of the tongue.”
Mulling over the words ‘first trip’ and the word ‘next’ that came from Leo’s mouth, Hyedam firmly shut his mouth. How could human emotions go between heaven and earth in less than 30 seconds—his lips seemed like they would lift up, and not wanting Leo to catch that, Hyedam subtly pulled on their clasped hands.
Rather than standing face to face like this, walking side by side was better for hiding expressions. Though he’d said someone would prepare everything needed, relief washed over him that if it was Jeju Island, even if items he needed came up, he could solve it with his own power.
Coffee scent permeated the space with just the two of them, and at the bread smell that followed, Hyedam looked around. Did people who entered the staff break room come out? It seemed like they’d brought out coffee and dessert as service, so it seemed good to eat that while breaking this strange atmosphere.
Following the bread smell and coffee scent, Hyedam only then realized he hadn’t eaten breakfast and that he was hungry. The employees who should be visible weren’t visible, and finding it strange that it was still just him and Leo alone, Hyedam looked around again.
If there wasn’t actual coffee, the coffee scent seemed to be because of Leo, but what was the bread smell really? Leo frequently said he smelled like bread and hugged him while sniffing, but it was a scent he’d never smelled before.
He vaguely knew that when his omega trait appeared when he was young, the pheromone scent that appeared was a bread smell, but he’d never felt it like this. Sometimes he’d think “no way, no way, just maybe,” but re-manifestation at this age didn’t make sense.
He didn’t want to think complicatedly and wanted to live simply, but it felt like things kept getting tangled. Above all, he couldn’t be an omega—because he was a beta, he could be by Leo’s side, and that was why he was showing interest in him.
They say that when you have relations with a dominant alpha, pheromone stimulation can occur from that influence, but that’s only possible during puberty, and above all, why he was suddenly feeling this scent now—everything was confusing.
Could Leo have noticed too? I need to hide it, but how do I do that?
“This won’t do. We should leave now.”
Unable to hide his flustered gaze, Hyedam, who had only been looking toward the staff break room, was led by Leo out of the lounge. The moment they entered the space mixed with numerous smells, the coffee scent and bread smell disappeared.
Led by the noise of people busily coming and going and Leo’s hand taking him somewhere, Hyedam put his wrist to his nose. Because they said pheromone scents are felt a lot from the wrist and back of the neck.
He slowly inhaled, and only after confirming there was nothing particularly felt did Hyedam’s slightly stiffened expression relax. Did someone use a toaster or something inside the staff break room?
In embarrassment, Hyedam rubbed under his nose with his index finger for no reason and quickened his steps a bit to match Leo’s pace.
“But where are we going?”
“……Where are we going?”
“Ah, where are we going?”
When his own words came right back to him, Hyedam corrected his speech.
“I’m looking for something simple to eat. What do you like?”
“Churros?”
It wasn’t that he particularly liked and enjoyed churros. It just caught his eye.
Even though they could enjoy snacks intimately together in a quiet place, the two who stubbornly came outside sat facing each other at a narrow table in front of a simple shop on one side of the busy airport.
Hyedam took a sip of the lemonade placed in the middle using a straw and took out a churro to bite.
From now until this trip that could go anywhere ends, he decided to treat him as someone he liked, not as the superior he served. He didn’t want to wander somewhere in between, continuing to worry and waver back and forth, ruining this moment and the trip.
“Have you traveled a lot?”
At Leo’s question with his gaze not on his face but on people, Hyedam only shook his head.
“What did you do while I was gone?”
A laugh burst from Hyedam’s mouth at the strange question without beginning or end. Where did he learn such strange flirting? What he was saying, “while I was gone”—he couldn’t tell if it meant the nearly 30 years he’d lived without knowing him, or if it meant after their strange brief encounter that seemed to pass by.
