“Can’t you get it out these days?”
“Pardon?”
Even so, since he couldn’t slack off at work anymore, he tried to move as briskly as before during work hours, but it seemed to show anyway. At the work supervisor’s words, Taeon pretended to be surprised for no reason.
“Haven’t you been taking care of your rut properly lately?”
Just as the people who could afford to purchase enough suppressants were limited, the people who took care of their cycles with regular partners were also limited.
Omegas who hadn’t completely lost their minds had discerning eyes. Since they filtered alphas as much as possible by appearance, alphas who weren’t chosen had to spend their ruts languishing alone for several days.
“But you’ve got a lot of omegas around you.”
“Ah, yes, well…”
At the work supervisor’s words, who clearly knew Taeon’s situation, Taeon gave an ambiguous smile.
“There’s a limit to getting it out without a lover. Tell me if you need an advance.”
At the work supervisor’s words, knowing that one pill was much more efficient than building up the body’s heat until rut and then releasing it, Taeon still awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth.
The work supervisor didn’t know that Taeon had gotten a prescription for suppressants at the hospital a few days ago.
After being prescribed enough suppressants to last a good three months, Taeon was seized by a strange feeling.
The fact that his bank account balance had noticeably decreased did bother him, but more than anything, he found it difficult to understand why he was trying to take suppressants now.
When Sunjeong pleaded with him tearfully until his nose turned red, he didn’t listen, and now…
At the end of this thought, a bitter sigh spread through Taeon’s heart.
He just didn’t want to do anything right now.
He had no desire to reply to messages from omegas who contacted him to resolve their cycles, and he had even less energy to mix bodies with them.
Except for when he worked to make a living, he just wanted to lie down buried under his blanket. He’d never been like this in his life, but his body became lethargic first. Even the spoon he had to pick up to eat felt like a lump of metal weighing a thousand pounds.
[Go Sunjeong, I understand what you were trying to say]
[Let’s meet face to face one more time and talk]
The day after Sunjeong’s tearful face finally turned away from Taeon and grew distant, Sunjeong naturally didn’t respond to the message Taeon sent.
When he bit his lip hard and made a call, he learned information he didn’t want to know.
‘The number you have dialed does not exist.’
The kind automated voice informed Taeon that Sunjeong’s phone number was no longer a valid number, that Sunjeong’s will to completely cut off contact with Taeon was clear.
When Sunjeong distanced himself like that, he felt miserable, but there was still a thread of hope.
Even if he was angry, he was thoroughly angry, so maybe if they gave him a few days of alone time and then talked, things would get better.
After this hope was mercilessly shattered, Taeon felt completely lost.
Taeon, who had told Sunjeong not to follow him around like that in order to properly walk the path laid out before him, found that as soon as Sunjeong disappeared, all those paths Taeon had been certain of failed to maintain their proper form.
“Yoon Taeon, are you showering here today? What’s going on?”
At the words of Junho, the only person his age at the site, Taeon shrugged.
Most people showered and changed before leaving work and going home, but Taeon usually just went home.
Since he wasn’t going to use public transportation anyway, it was bothersome to change out of work clothes that would just go straight into the washing machine, and more than anything, it was troublesome to shower while bumping naked bodies with other people. It was also troublesome to deal with the older men who would comment on the size just by looking at Taeon’s cock.
“The water heater at the very back broke. Hey, but do you have plans outside the neighborhood or something?”
To Junho, who somehow kept persistently asking, Taeon answered.
“There’s somewhere I need to go outside the neighborhood.”
He felt like he couldn’t keep suffering like this.
He felt like he’d feel better inside if he could see Sunjeong’s face and have a proper conversation.
So after work today, Taeon decided to go to Sunjeong’s house. Since Sunjeong faithfully stayed home except for going to and from school, if he greeted Sunjeong’s parents, who liked Taeon, warmly, he should at least be able to see his face.
Thinking that he’d see Sunjeong soon, it seemed like his gloomy mood improved a little.
As always, as soon as he entered Sunjeong’s house, Taeon’s soul was already half exhausted.
When he pressed the bell and waited for a while, the housekeeper who met his face through the intercom screen greeted him cheerfully, saying ‘Oh my, student Taeon!’ The door opened right away without any further words.
When he entered the house, Sunjeong’s mother also came running cheerfully to Taeon. Hyejin, Sunjeong’s mother, who was a little more uninhibited in her actions than Sunjeong, had no hesitation in hugging Taeon. Hyejin, who was as small as Sunjeong, patted Taeon’s back several times and greeted him warmly.
“You came at a good time, son.”
Every time he heard these words, Taeon’s mood would become gloomy. The single word “son” that they affectionately uttered always shook Taeon.
He had planned to just briefly handle his business. Meeting Go Sunjeong, who would be at home, face to face.
“We have braised mackerel and bulgogi. What do you want to eat?”
“Oh my, ma’am, why are you asking? Student Taeon just eats everything.”
At the housekeeper’s words, remembering Taeon as a high school student with a good appetite, Hyejin burst into giggles.
“That’s right, Taeon really eats everything well. He’s completely different from our Sunjeong.”
In the end, a generous table was set.
“We already ate dinner, so you eat a lot, Taeon.”
Hyejin and the housekeeper sat down in front of Taeon with their portions of tea and coffee. Their sparkling eyes watching Taeon were extremely burdensome, but since it was a gaze he had once received quite familiarly, Taeon gave his thanks naturally and began eating.
As expected, at the taste of the light Korean food that made his eyes pop open, Taeon’s eating quietly quickened.
Except for eating at a home-cooked meal restaurant for lunch, Taeon cooked for himself.
He didn’t really like delivery food, and since he did physical work and couldn’t manage with just eating carelessly, he would make a pot of rice and roughly prepare a main dish. He would grill a geun of pork belly or fry half a carton of eggs at a time.
After getting used to such half-hearted meals, eating food at Sunjeong’s house made him feel like he could finally live.
“Taeon, you should eat one more bowl, right?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Seeing Taeon quietly bow his head without declining, the two women smiled brightly.
In the end, the meal only ended after he emptied all three bowls of rice.
“Taeon, we have roasted chestnuts. They’re all peeled so they’re easy to eat. Or we have cream cheese persimmons. What do you want for dessert?”
After eating his fill, dessert felt burdensome. But he didn’t feel like refusing Hyejin, whose eyes were sparkling, so Taeon chose the chestnuts.
The vast kitchen table that was both too familiar and simultaneously unfamiliar to Taeon.
Beyond this table was a spacious, splendid living room several times larger than Taeon’s house.
If you quickly climbed the narrow stairs at the edge of the living room, you’d reach the second floor that Sunjeong monopolized instead of his siblings who had all gotten married and left home.
Sunjeong had worked hard to decorate it according to his taste, and since that taste consisted of pastel-toned cute things, it was uncomfortable for Taeon. The first things you’d see when entering Sunjeong’s room were a light sky-blue cloud-shaped mirror and a light pink desk.
And in the middle of all that were photos of Taeon and Sunjeong stuck here and there.
It’s been a really long time since I entered Go Sunjeong’s room.
Taeon was lost in thought in a daze.
Before he turned twenty, it was a house he definitely came to once a day under the pretext of looking after Sunjeong and studying together, but after graduating high school, he stopped visiting. Even when he did come, at most he’d only come to the front of the house to drop Sunjeong off.
I wonder if his taste is still as loud and childish. Of course it is, that’s Go Sunjeong.
Taeon chuckled at himself for thinking about Sunjeong while at Sunjeong’s house.
“Does our son not date these days?”
At Hyejin’s affectionate question, Taeon shook his head.
“I don’t have time for that sort of thing.”
“Oh my, where else is there an alpha like our Taeon. When Mom sees omegas around her who are like Taeon, she keeps thinking of Taeon. She thinks, I should introduce them to Taeon.”
In front of Hyejin saying this, Taeon forced his lips up into a gentle curve as always.
Sunju and Hyejin—that is, Sunjeong’s father and mother—always cherished Taeon like their own son.
They also said that if Taeon wanted it, they would support him in every way possible.
And they always emphasized.
That they hoped Taeon would meet a good omega.
Knowing how and how much their son Sunjeong liked Taeon.
‘Sunjeong also needs to hurry and meet a good alpha.’
They didn’t hesitate to let such words slip in front of Taeon.
