“Mm, there isn’t anything…….”
“Don’t be like that. If you do that, I’m going to buy you just anything. Like a pink unicorn plushie this big.”
I ended up imagining Kim Eorin going to school clutching a pink unicorn plushie, and I burst out laughing, my hand holding the spoon trembling. Woojin and Junsu weren’t much different. Eorin grumbled with a flushed face, asking why we were laughing.
“Not a unicorn, get me a teddy bear.”
“A teddy bear?”
“Yeah. I like teddy bears.”
I laughed, saying my favorite snack was gummy bears.
“Gummy bears?”
“Ah, that’s not the real name. They’re foreign gummies, kind of sour. They’re shaped like bears, so I just call them gummy bears…….”
“Ah, I know what you mean. I like those. When I was young, I used to stock up on them and eat them.”
Eorin said. I nodded. I knew Eorin liked those gummies.
“Mm, anyway. Do you really want a plushie?”
I really was fine with anything, but it was still a bit hard to nod at the question of whether I really wanted a plushie. It somehow felt like being treated like a child. To be honest, I did like them……. I had never owned a plushie.
“I’m really fine even if you don’t give me anything…….”
“No, I’m going to give you something.”
Even Junsu, who was the most stubborn, didn’t insist on giving a present, but instead Eorin said that with an indifferent face. Looking closely, he seemed to observe his surroundings well and be mature, but he was also stubborn and had a childish side remaining in some corner—it was clear he’d grown up loved. Actually, I was used to childish behavior so it didn’t matter, but the problem was that childishness worked strangely. Even among the sixteen younger siblings, there wasn’t a child who whined to receive a present.
“But tomorrow’s Saturday.”
Woojin, who had been blankly staring out the window, muttered.
“Ah.”
Everyone seemed to have forgotten, as at Woojin’s words, I, Eorin, and Junsu all made vacant expressions.
“Can we meet tomorrow?”
“Chiwon-ah, let’s go out. We’ve never gone out together.”
Actually, Saturday was cleaning day, and since the weekend was the only time to be with my younger siblings, I rarely went out on weekends. But I recalled the Director’s words. Enjoy your life a bit now too.
“……Where are we going?”
Unable to contain my anticipation, I asked while trying hard to suppress the smile that was slipping out. The kids burst out laughing, probably seeing my excited face. I was embarrassed, but since I really was excited, there was nothing I could do. The area around my eyes heated up.
“Where does our Chiwon want to go?”
“Uh…… I’m not good at choosing things like that.”
“Ah, but I have to go to academy…….”
Woojin muttered glumly.
“What time?”
“From twelve to six.”
“Wow. What kind of academy? Isn’t it tiring?”
“Piano. It’s been 11 years now, so I’m used to it…… but to be honest, even though I’ve played that long, it’s tiring.”
“Wow.”
I had never played piano. When I looked at him with eyes that said it was amazing, Woojin grinned.
“It’s nothing special. My mom used to play piano, so I do it too. Like a habit. My mom runs a music academy.”
“Just being able to read sheet music is amazing.”
To read musical notes, I had to count up from the do scale with my fingers.
“So you go to academy all weekend?”
“Yeah. I’m preparing for a competition lately.”
“You’re even entering competitions? Hey, Woojin…… you suddenly look cool.”
Junsu muttered. Eorin and I nodded too.
“Then how about we meet and have dinner?”
When Eorin suggested it, Woojin’s face brightened. He seemed to have been thinking they would meet without him.
“Is that okay?”
“Huh, me? Of course it’s okay.”
A dinner appointment was actually better since I could finish the cleaning and come out.
“That’s a relief. Actually, my noona said she wants to go somewhere tomorrow too.”
Junsu sighed, saying it was his friend’s birthday so he told her no several times, but she was unreasonable, saying it wasn’t even a set appointment with friends and it would only take a few hours, so just quietly follow along. Still, they seemed to get along well, so I smiled.
“Chiwon-ah, then you don’t have anything during the day?”
“Mm, at the orphanage…… there is cleaning. Why?”
“I was thinking of hanging out while waiting for those guys.”
“Just the two of you? That’s mean!”
“Mean!”
Junsu and Woojin stuck out their lips. Eorin didn’t care at all. I agreed readily without even thinking deeply about it.
The rule was that everyone does the cleaning together, so I wondered if I could skip it, but when I said a friend made plans to celebrate my birthday, the teachers were eager to send me out. As the time I was supposed to meet Eorin approached, I hurriedly left the orphanage. In the pockets of my thick duffle coat were the allowance the teachers had given me and my phone.
The meeting place was the exit of a park downtown. I hurriedly took the bus and arrived a little before two o’clock, but Eorin was already there waiting. Eorin, who had been looking at his phone, raised his head as I approached.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“You came early.”
Putting his phone in his pocket, Eorin grinned. Because of his firm-looking eyes and low voice, the first impression wasn’t like that, but Eorin really smiled a lot.
“Where should we go?”
“Mm, there’s headphones I wanted to buy, is it okay if we go there first?”
I’m sorry even though it’s your birthday, Eorin made that kind of expression. His eyes that became slightly teary looked strangely cute. I nodded.
“Which way?”
I hadn’t been out to the downtown area much, so I still didn’t know the streets well. Eorin firmly grabbed my hand and led me.
“This way.”
Like when playing basketball, Eorin had no hesitation about physical contact with people. Hugging from behind often, putting his arm around, holding hands. Perhaps it was because he knew me as a beta. I still hadn’t told the kids that I was an omega.
Our clasped hands started to get damp. I couldn’t help being nervous. But if I moved my fingers, Eorin might notice, so I desperately pretended not to notice my hand sweating. While looking around to act nonchalant, the back of Eorin’s neck caught my eye.
Short black hair covered the nape of his neck slightly and fluttered. Above the collar of his plump beige cardigan and shirt, his neat neck was visible. I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt like I was becoming strange. I started lowering my head to look only at the ground. Because of that, when Eorin stopped, I buried my face right into his back.
“Poof!”
“Ah, sorry.”
“……No, I wasn’t looking ahead.”
I was rubbing my nose in embarrassment when Eorin looked down at me silently. When I looked back with a puzzled expression, Eorin turned his head and started walking again. Even then, he still didn’t let go of my hand. Until we arrived at the headphone store, Eorin didn’t say anything.
“……!”
“Ah, fuck.”
While Eorin was choosing headphones and paying, I was about to go out first when I opened the glass door and bumped into someone. Thinking there were a lot of face-bumping incidents today, I raised my head to apologize when suddenly a strange smell spread thickly.
It was pheromones that felt crushing in an instant. It was a mint scent, but not refreshing at all. I desperately tensed my body. If Eorin saw me being affected by pheromones…….
“What the hell.”
The guy in front cursed and brushed off his shoulder. I couldn’t move at all. If I opened my mouth, my trembling voice would obviously come out. Then the guy reached his hand toward me. Momentarily, the guy’s appearance overlapped with the navy middle school uniform. I felt the blood draining from my toes.
“……!”
“……Kim Eorin?”
At that moment, a hand reached out from behind me, covered my face, and pulled me backward. It was Eorin. Perhaps sensing the alpha’s pheromones that clearly showed threatening intent, Eorin released his own pheromones as if confronting him. I heard that alphas instinctively feel aversion to another alpha’s pheromones, and it seemed to be because of that.
Perhaps because it was at least a familiar pheromone, the trembling in my fingers stopped instantly. Eorin, keeping me wrapped in one arm from behind, stepped a few paces away from the front of the store. Since it was the doorway, he probably thought we’d be in the way of the store. I carefully caught my breath so Eorin wouldn’t notice. Since I couldn’t see ahead with my vision dark, hidden under Eorin’s palm, I was blinking my eyes when it tickled his eyelashes, and Eorin pressed his palm down a bit more firmly.
“What brings you here?”
“Buying headphones.”
“……Who’s that?”
“A friend.”
Strangely, Eorin’s voice sounded stiff. The boy with the mint scent fell silent for a moment at Eorin’s words. I couldn’t know what expression he had. Eorin’s hand continued to cover my face. Along with the soft vanilla scent.
“A friend? Him?”
“Yeah.”
Eorin answered. I tightened my grip on my hand that was holding near Eorin’s elbow. Perhaps feeling the sleeve being pulled, Eorin lowered his head.
“Why?”
“…….”
“Ah, my hand?”
Worried my voice might be locked up or trembling, I didn’t speak and just silently pulled the sleeve downward. It meant to remove his hand. As Eorin slowly lowered his hand, he suddenly grabbed me and turned his body around. In the light that momentarily streamed in, I squinted and couldn’t see the guy’s face.
“Then I’ll be going. Take care.”
Eorin pushed me and greeted toward the back. Thanks to that, I couldn’t properly see the other person’s face until the end. No greeting came from the other side.
“Who was that?”
I asked after clearing my throat several times. Eorin tilted his head and said, “Mm.”
“Sixth cousin.”
“Sixth cousin?”
“His grandfather is my great-uncle. So…… my grandfather and his grandfather are brothers.”
“I see. Is he from our school?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s his name?”
“…….”
When I asked for his name, Eorin closed his mouth in a straight line and didn’t answer. Even if they were sixth cousins, that didn’t guarantee they were close, and I thought maybe they weren’t very close and only knew each other by face, so the name didn’t come to mind easily. I was about to say he didn’t have to tell me. I was also terrible at remembering people’s names, so if I didn’t see someone for a few years, I couldn’t remember not only their name but even where I’d met them. But Eorin turned his head and muttered quietly.
“Kim Jaeui, but…… don’t get close to him.”
“…….”
“Only hang out with me.”
I ended up bursting into laughter. My shoulders that had been trembling had stopped a long time ago.
