“Date, travel a lot, try things you want to do, and enjoy what you enjoy.”
“Hyung, you keep forgetting I’m an entertainer?”
“……”
“Dating is only possible when I’ve completely given up my feelings of liking hyung.”
“……”
“Then what hyung is saying is this. Stop liking hyung, don’t keep the promise, and in the end……”
“You can date and then come to hyung. Just like now, when you’ve just turned thirty. You can release articles from January 1st. At that time.”
“If that’s the case……!”
Unable to communicate at all, Yeongwon, who had unknowingly raised his voice, closed his eyes and just lay down on the sofa.
Rather than needing time to think, he wanted to briefly calm down the emotions knotted inside. Though his voice had gotten louder as if annoyed, rather than the emotion of annoyance, the resentment that had already bloomed came first.
Right, he felt wronged. Because it wasn’t something to be dismissed as just a childhood promise. Feelings couldn’t be a joke.
Conceding a hundred times, he couldn’t say there was no unreasonableness at all. It could look like throwing a tantrum. Because he was forcing marriage on someone who didn’t like him.
Looking outwardly, it was coercion, but that didn’t mean he was actually being unreasonably stubborn. He was only telling him to keep the promise. Moreover, Jiseo wasn’t refusing because he hated him.
My age is the only problem……
“Right. That could be possible.”
Yeongwon, who had briefly lain with his back to the sofa back settling his surging emotions, muttered as if talking to himself.
It seemed he hadn’t been thinking maturely for a moment.
The moment Yeongwon turned to look at the ceiling to get up again, warm hands burrowed under his neck. Following that, a soft cushion comfortably supported his head.
“Sleep like this for a bit. You said you barely slept. You, you’re the type whose face gets red when excited, but right now you look like you’ll burst.”
“……”
“Slightly, you also seem to still be drunk……”
He didn’t know why he kept trying to put him to sleep, but it seemed his condition looked quite bad in Jiseo’s eyes.
He’d been about to calm down for a moment because heat had risen all over his face anyway.
Perhaps because he’d already reached a conclusion inwardly, his heart became much more comfortable and he thought he didn’t need to get heated persuading Jiseo. Perhaps because he’d spent too much energy, fatigue rushed in slightly, and more than anything, he’d made a resolution.
If his relationship with Jiseo turned out as desired, he would be the one receiving the most of his attention.
Setting aside other things, he had to listen to the words of someone giving willing attention in any situation. Especially if he was going to become someone’s spouse, even more so. He shouldn’t ignore concerns directed at him.
Watching Yeongwon obediently close his eyes, Jiseo suddenly gently clasped his arm.
It seemed he should send him home for today. Because his twitching lips showed no signs of calming down at all.
Large hands lifted Yeongwon, who had just closed his eyes.
“Rather, think about it for a few more days before coming.”
“……You’re telling me to go home?”
“Come with a clear mind after the alcohol’s completely worn off.”
“……”
“Hurry.”
“Then I’ll come after washing cleanly, so wait a little.”
“……”
“I’ll come after tidying up again. I’ll come right away tomorrow.”
“No. Think about it again for a week before coming.”
He didn’t know if Yeongwon heard the last words properly, but he shouted “I’ll come after getting rid of the alcohol smell and seriously! I was serious even now!” and hurriedly left through the entrance. A mutter saying he couldn’t live like this slowly bloomed above Jiseo’s lips.
Anyway, he was relieved that things had settled for the moment, but it wouldn’t last long. He’d soon come back to have the unfinished fight. Since he’d drawn a line, he’d probably fill up all the time.
“Hyung, where are you?”
The guess he believed without doubt, trusted because they’d known each other for so long, hit the mark without a single error.
As soon as the designated time passed, Yeongwon was already sitting on Jiseo’s living room sofa early in the morning, his face looking more lively than before.
Letting out a short sigh, Jiseo immediately got up and headed to the living room where Yeongwon was.
“Why did you wake up so early? The sun isn’t even up yet, you’ll catch cold.”
“I guess my eyes opened because I wanted to talk quickly.”
“About what?”
Seeing that fresh, energetic face, it seemed he couldn’t delay any longer. Jiseo sat down beside Yeongwon again, preparing for another round of back-and-forth.
“I understood your fear, hyung.”
“Hm?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Having a baby could be scary. It changes your life, changes everything.”
“……”
“Smell my scent again. Maybe you’re just not into this kind of thing?”
Yeongwon, who had moved right next to Jiseo, actively half-rose and brought his arm close to the other’s nose.
If you were a trait holder, there was a time once a month when this pheromone would pour out especially excessively, trapping the body in noticeable excitement. It was like an instinct that those with traits experienced.
In the past, it was dangerous because instinctive desires came first, but these days the medication was very good. Not only could it be suppressed with medicine, but if you didn’t want it to interfere with daily life, there was a way to solve it quickly with an injection. Or… there was also a method of naturally releasing it by mixing bodies with someone of a different trait.
Most people with opposing traits instinctively responded to each other’s pheromones.
Just as everyone has an ideal type and different preferences, each person’s preferred scent was different. Of course, since they couldn’t control their instincts, they were naturally drawn to pheromones of different traits.
If he were a beta it would be one thing, but if a trait transformation to omega had occurred, Jiseo should have been affected at least a little.
However, Yeongwon was slightly worried. Even if he was instinctively interested, he could also feel an instinctive rejection.
“Mm, nice scent. It smells like pears, a bit stronger than before.”
“Do you like the fragrance?”
“The scent is nice, but well, that’s all.”
“Really? As long as you like it, that’s fine.”
First of all, Yeongwon was relieved that his pheromones didn’t feel bad to Jiseo. Although he could control it, he was so relieved that it wafted out more strongly than before.
If he didn’t find it unpleasant, it was as good as securing one position. If he felt it was good, someday he might feel it was even better. He had opened the path to get there without much difficulty.
“Anyway, I only like you, hyung. I don’t plan to let anyone else smell my scent.”
“……”
“I’m understanding because it’s you, hyung.”
“……”
“As for you, hyung… let’s see……”
Yeongwon, who had suddenly stopped talking, buried his head in Jiseo’s chest without changing his posture of kneeling on the sofa.
Since Jiseo had manifested as an alpha quite a while ago, he had no choice but to be skilled at releasing and opening his pheromones.
Yeongwon, who hadn’t been able to properly smell the scent coming from Jiseo because he’d been so distracted until now, sniffed and took in his fragrance.
“Ah, so this is what it smells like. It’s really strong……”
“……”
“It just smells a bit like lemon. A fresh scent.”
Although the scent was faint, it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t smell it. Since it was close to the fruit’s original smell, he couldn’t help but like it, but Yeongwon’s reaction was lukewarm.
“I thought if I liked it, I’d like it so much I’d want to keep smelling it, but it’s more ordinary than I thought……”
“……”
“No, it’s not. I want to keep smelling it.”
Because it was no different from the lemon scent he could often smell normally, it came across as somewhat ordinary, but Yeongwon soon felt the difference between ordinary fragrance and pheromones firsthand.
A feeling like a cramp came suddenly, then gradually released, and his head began to clear. In that process, his mood lifted as if floating.
Since it was a scent naturally emitted from the skin, it was better felt on bare skin than on areas covered by clothes.
His head, which had been lingering on the chest, shot up at once and approached near the neck. Jiseo’s body stiffened as if momentarily tense, catching a strange energy. At the same time, he grabbed Yeongwon’s wrist, stopping his action.
“It comes from the hands too. You can smell it here.”
Although he didn’t completely prevent Yeongwon from smelling his scent, Jiseo extended his arm, which was relatively farther away.
He’d heard a lot about how people go crazy for the pheromones of someone they like, and even without that, seeing Yeongwon already pressing his nose to his wrist gave him the answer. He could clearly see it was different from when he himself smelled Yeongwon’s scent.
