Different Dreams in the Same Bed (3)
Jeongbae stared at the menu naively. Even standing next to Isol, his appearance was nothing to be ashamed of. His missing tooth looked a bit sloppy, but depending on how you looked at it, that could seem cute too.
What was it called, the cheerleader effect? That psychology where your own attractiveness seems to rise depending on who’s standing next to you. Since the visual combination with Jeongbae seemed unexpectedly decent, Isol wasn’t feeling bad about it inwardly.
No, to be honest, it was pretty good. He was a born attention-seeker after all.
‘If I keep him around in a best friend position like a sidekick, it’d be convenient when seducing guys…’
Isol licked his lips inwardly. Despite his innocent face, he was quick to calculate.
“I’ll enjoy this.”
Isol accepted the drink Jeongbae paid for as if it were completely natural. Then he took a sip and once again subtly looked Jeongbae over with his eyes.
“How did you seduce Yoon Jaehyuk?”
Pfft.
At the direct question, Jeongbae spat out his drink. Watching him cough and fluster, the corners of Isol’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Se… seduce?”
“You two are dating, aren’t you? Yoon Jaehyuk goes around saying he’s married…”
“Ah, no. Marriage, what marriage.”
Jeongbae waved his hands and hurriedly denied it. His voice went up a tone.
“Don’t be like that, just tell me. I’m really curious. Why would omegas play coy with each other?”
Jeongbae avoided eye contact once again and said,
“I… there’s really nothing special. We just… naturally got to know each other…”
His words trailed off. Jeongbae mumbled and just stared at his drink.
‘He’s not really the eloquent type either…’
“But… didn’t you like Jaehyuk…?”
The man hung his head low and spoke quietly. Isol chuckled. He wasn’t the type to dwell on such things.
“What can I do about a guy who rejected me? I just need to find someone better.”
“Still, I’m sorry.”
After bowing his head, Jeongbae met his gaze directly. There was quite a bit of sincerity in it, which surprised Isol a little.
“Ahem, well. Then can I ask you something else?”
“Yes, anything.”
Jeongbae nodded.
“What’s Yoon Jaehyuk’s sex style like?”
“……”
Jeongbae’s eyes widened. The hand holding his cup trembled, and the sound of ice clinking rang out. This wasn’t within the scope of questions—it was just an accident. He looked around frantically to see if anyone had heard. Isol crossed his arms and nonchalantly bit his straw.
“Why? Is there something you can’t say? We’re both grown adults.”
“N… no, it’s not that…”
The tips of Jeongbae’s ears instantly heated up. ‘That night’ flashed through his mind in an instant.
Even though it had started by force… in the end, they’d both lost their minds, that memory that made his lower abdomen throb hotly just thinking about it.
Isol didn’t miss the change in Jeongbae’s expression. His eyebrow lifted slightly at that moment of wavering.
“Oh? Looking at your reaction… it wasn’t bad?”
Jeongbae was almost on the verge of fainting. He’d just come to meet Jaehyuk, so why was he having this conversation with Isol? It was all his own fault for being too soft and unable to refuse.
“Th… that kind of talk… doesn’t seem appropriate to have here.”
Jeongbae responded with almost breathless sounds.
Isol tapped the table lightly with his finger and didn’t withdraw his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“I’m really curious. That amazing Yoon Jaehyuk… what’s he like in bed?”
Honestly, he didn’t think he’d get an answer, but Isol kept pressing.
‘He made me eat dirt, so I can tease him this much at least.’
“He’s… persistent.”
A voice crawling away. Isol blinked as if momentarily at a loss for words. Honest Jeongbae couldn’t bring himself to refuse and ended up answering.
“Persistent?”
“On… once he fixates, he keeps going at that spot…”
Jeongbae wanted to bury his face in the table. Isol took a sip of coffee and muttered almost admiringly.
“What… now I’m even more curious.”
His face bright red, Jeongbae really wanted to run away. But Isol ended that topic there and drank his beverage without saying much else. Jeongbae also aimlessly stared at his drink glass.
It was when the two were silently sitting for a moment. Suddenly a presence approached unexpectedly.
“Excuse me.”
Jeongbae thought it would naturally be an acquaintance of Isol’s and lifted his head. But…
“Jeongbae, you’re Jeongbae, right?”
Jeongbae’s face turned pale.
***
“Who was that guy just now? Your ex?”
“Close enough.”
Jeongbae seemed to burn inside as he lifted the entire glass and crunched on the ice. Isol smiled triumphantly, thinking he’d caught a weakness.
He was an alpha male with a rather neat and genial impression. He said he’d just recently come as an English class instructor, was delighted to see Jeongbae for a while, then asked for his contact information.
“You cut off contact as soon as you got a grade 1 in English.”
“……”
Jeongbae’s face reddened all the way to his ears. Isol deliberately pretended not to notice.
“Since we met like this, it’s fate, so let’s keep in touch. Got it?”
The man left a wink and disappeared, and Jeongbae let out a deep sigh as if giving up everything.
“This… shouldn’t we keep this secret from Yoon Jaehyuk?”
“……”
Jeongbae just rolled his eyes around. It was essentially an affirmative.
“I wonder what would happen if I told him.”
“…Ah, please spare me.”
Jeongbae immediately clung to his arm. Isol grinned wickedly.
“If Jaehyuk finds out, I’m dead. You saw at the rice soup restaurant. How unreasonable he is.”
“Okay. Omegas should have this kind of loyalty to each other. But can’t you give me your number? I want to be friends…”
“I… really thank you.”
Jeongbae made a relieved expression and obediently typed in his phone number.
Isol recalled the day he’d run into Jaehyuk plucking bean sprout heads at the rice soup restaurant. Yoon Jaehyuk spouting nonsense about whether omegas were cheating on each other.
At that moment, a good idea—or more precisely, a very wicked idea—crossed Isol’s mind. Something that would piss off Yoon Jaehyuk and put Kang Jeongbae in an awkward position…
“Huh? It’s time for Jaehyuk to finish now. Let’s go together.”
Isol naturally got up, linked arms with Jeongbae, and headed to the humanities building where Jaehyuk was. Jeongbae did stare at Isol acting friendly, but he didn’t coldly push him away or anything.
‘Why is he so soft? Doing everything he’s told…’
Kang Jeongbae seemed to be genuinely good-natured by nature, not putting on an act. Even though he must feel uncomfortable, he treated him quite kindly and answered properly without ignoring him.
‘Well, he is kind of cute.’
Just then, as if the seminar had ended, students started pouring out through the humanities college main gate. Isol stuck close to Jeongbae and waited for the moment.
Soon, Yoon Jaehyuk came out with a leisurely gait and caught his eye. Today too, he was shiny and model-like. Today for sure, he had to land a blow on that arrogant face.
“Yoon Jaehyuk!”
When Isol called out to him loudly, Jaehyuk’s indifferent eyes turned toward Isol. Then, discovering Jeongbae next to him, his eyes widened and he started running over.
“Jeongbae, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
‘What kind of expression will Yoon Jaehyuk make?’
Isol slightly lifted Jeongbae’s chin. The way he just blinked in confusion looked exactly like a rabbit.
‘This much should… be enough to make him angry, right?’
Isol smiled leisurely and brought his lips to the bewildered Jeongbae.
“Hey, you fucking! Kang Isol, you crazy bastard!!!”
A tremendous roar echoed through the humanities building full of people. Isol stuck out his tongue and bolted in the opposite direction. He was good at track and field, after all.
Running at full speed, he glanced back to see Jeongbae being dragged away, hoisted on Jaehyuk’s shoulder. Isol thought ‘serves you right’ and laughed wickedly. It felt like a hundred-year-old indigestion was going down all at once.
***
‘If I come back here again, I’ll change my last name.’
The strange encounter with his former English tutor.
Kang Isol’s crazy stolen kiss.
And finally, being hoisted onto Jaehyuk’s shoulder and dragged away in front of everyone. It was disastrous.
“What… what?”
“Isn’t that Yoon Jaehyuk?”
“Who’s he taking away?”
The murmuring sounds reached Jeongbae’s ears clearly. Embarrassed, Jeongbae covered his face with his hands.
“Pl… please put me down.”
He pleaded, but there was no answer, only the footsteps becoming more intense.
A secluded bench on a trail behind the campus. Tall sequoia trees stood in a row. Only after arriving at this deserted place did Jaehyuk roughly put Jeongbae down.
“So…”
The moment he tried to make an excuse, Jeongbae’s lips were blocked. Large hands cupping both his cheeks. Jaehyuk covered his lips. Hot breath and the thick scent of an excited alpha’s pheromones settled heavily.
‘No, not at school…’
