After many twists and turns, Siwoo and Evan succeeded up to the word ‘friend,’ getting three correct within the time limit, and finished filming without additional recording.
3 AM.
Having finished bowing deeply to greet the filming crew, Siwoo’s shoulders slumped limply. The appearance of him laughing, chattering, dancing, and bouncing around just moments ago had disappeared in an instant.
“Woah~ We’re going home now. I can sleep in a bed today!”
At Yechan’s words as he stretched languidly and mumbled, the corners of Siwoo’s mouth lifted slightly. Right, finally he could sleep properly instead of being crumpled up on a sofa or chair. Just thinking about showering in hot water, putting on fluffy pajamas, and burrowing into a soft bed made him feel good.
If he could lay his head on a pillow right now, he felt like he’d fall into a deep sleep. It seemed like he could sleep peacefully without nightmares, without the difficult time tossing and turning unable to fall asleep.
Trudging along looking only ahead, Siwoo went straight into the van as soon as he saw the open door.
The moment he sat in the comfortable seat, he adjusted the seat to recline the backrest and closed his eyes.
His whole body sank languidly and his head, which had been filled with all sorts of random thoughts, gradually emptied. Just a little. Just a little more like this and he would fall asleep.
Siwoo’s breathing became steady and his consciousness blurred, and just when it seemed he would fall asleep like that, his eyes opened.
“Why? Can’t sleep?”
In the end, unable to fall asleep, Siwoo sighed and tossed and turned, then nodded at the words he heard from beside him. Up until their first album, the members had traveled in one car. But as they started their second album activities, support vehicles increased. They said it was so they could be even a little more comfortable during travel time despite the tight schedule.
And at some point, Evan and Siwoo always traveled in the same car. At first they boarded mixed up here and there, but at some point one car had Chan, Yechan, and Sangjun, while the other car regularly had Evan and Siwoo.
Tossing and turning then closing his eyes again, Siwoo just smiled slightly at the hand stroking his head. He was too tired to hold his hand or face Evan who would be looking at him and meet his gaze.
They had clumsily confirmed each other’s feelings and started activities at the same time, so there was no time for the two of them to spend quietly together. Since there were always other people around, they never had deep conversations.
At most, they just held hands occasionally like this when traveling.
“Do you need medicine?”
Siwoo, who had been breathing evenly while smelling Evan’s scent that gave him stability, stopped breathing for a moment. Does he need medicine? After thinking for a moment, Siwoo nodded slightly. Even if he didn’t take it right away, it would be good to have it on hand as a regular supply.
He might not be able to fall asleep easily even after returning to the dorm and getting in his bed. But even so, Siwoo had no intention of touching the medicine. The time given as rest was only about seven or eight hours at most. If he took medicine, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to wake up on time and move with a clear mind.
Sleep gently approached again. It might approach like this and then run away, but Siwoo relaxed his whole body. Evan’s large hand continued to stroke his head. He just languidly blinked his gradually heavy eyes. His hand that had been touching his head touched his cheek.
Siwoo’s two drowsy eyes, barely open and precarious, closed beautifully.
Even after Siwoo fell asleep, Evan couldn’t easily take his hand away from his face.
It was a continuous schedule that was overwhelming even for himself. Even Alphas, who are said to be physically superior to Betas, get tired from this schedule, yet Siwoo had followed along without a single word about it being hard. Now Sangjun and Siwoo would lie down sprawled out whenever they had time. Because that was the only way to conserve even a little energy.
And the response to this ‘Lucifer’ was beyond imagination. Even Evan, who was worn and weathered in this industry and knew all the trend keywords and everything, needed a certain amount of time each time to bring Ocean to the top position. Though there were variations, usually it took until the 3-4 year mark to properly establish themselves.
But at this rate, it seemed they could move that time up even more. Right now they were doing domestic activities, but from late November they would have to frequently go in and out of overseas locations. From the music awards Siwoo wanted to attend to various year-end award ceremonies. There was no time to have proper rest.
Though he was an investor, planner, and also a member of Ocean, he couldn’t do everything as he pleased. There was clearly a CEO, and anyway, right now he himself was someone somewhere between a boy and an adult, barely twenty years old, who couldn’t be trusted at all in others’ eyes.
He already knew that Siwoo had insomnia. However, he hadn’t expected it to be this serious at all. Everyone slept here and there whenever they had gaps. On the other hand, Siwoo couldn’t sleep. Whether in the waiting room or anywhere else, he was clearly lying down and resting so they thought he had fallen asleep, but he hadn’t.
Even sleeping deeply for a short time and resting in a light sleep state were clearly different. At least when he was nearby, Siwoo seemed to sleep a bit more deeply, so he always lingered around there, but even that wasn’t easy.
Because in places with many people, Siwoo tried not to be alone with Evan by any means.
At least sleeping during travel time like this seemed to be the most comfortable resting time for Siwoo. When he touched his head like this or held his hand while releasing his pheromones, Siwoo would fall into a deep sleep.
Could this also be related to manifestation? At first he thought it was a coincidence. But as the same situation repeated, only one thing crossed Evan’s mind. Evan, who had been comfortably releasing his pheromones, slowly gathered back what he had dispersed.
At the same time, Siwoo’s breathing, which had been deep and motionless in sleep, became disturbed. At the sight of him gradually tossing his body, Evan released his pheromones again. And Siwoo, who had seemed about to wake up, fell into deep sleep once more.
With his gaze fixed on Siwoo’s face, Evan’s hand that had been stroking his head and cheek now carefully grasped the small hand that was comfortably spread out.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
“I can’t sleep.”
At Daehwan’s question, Evan spoke in a small voice.
“Everyone’s dying from exhaustion. Alphas really are different after all. How did Siwoo fall asleep?”
While driving, briefly meeting eyes through the rearview mirror, Evan nodded at the words.
“What are we going to do when he has such a hard time falling asleep. Still, it’s fortunate he sleeps a bit when traveling by car. Myunghun hyung said since we have some time tomorrow, let’s all go to the hospital together.”
“Hospital?”
“You, Yechan, and Chan. Isn’t it time for you guys to get your medicine? The cycle gets shorter during activities than during rest periods. While we’re at it, Sangjun and Siwoo can at least get some nutritional shots. I did mention it, but you’re all so exhausted, just resting might be good too.”
“Let me make a phone call for a moment.”
He had forgotten. Why was he forgetting so many things lately?
Omegas and Alphas were not free from the heat cycles and rut cycles that repeated several times a year. Generally it could be controlled with medicine so there wasn’t much inconvenience, but still, having to regularly get checkups and take medicine didn’t change.
Not a regular Alpha, but a Golden Alpha.
And Evan, who didn’t particularly want to leave his information in Korea, immediately contacted his personal doctor. When he was in England this summer, he had gotten an examination and brought medicine back. Though he still had some to spare, right now next to him was the hidden Omega Siwoo who might trigger some kind of variable.
While listening to the call waiting tone, Evan swept his face with one hand. There were many things to resolve. Hiding the fact that he himself had regressed wasn’t difficult. But he had to clearly point out that Siwoo was an Omega.
Siwoo’s pheromones were getting stronger day by day. Seeing that Yechan and Chan couldn’t feel it at all, Siwoo was definitely a hidden Omega. But in broadcasting stations with many Alphas, with an anxious heart, Evan unconsciously kept covering Siwoo with his pheromones.
And each time he had to listen to Chan cursing with his eyes and Yechan telling him to stop it already. Even now, Daehwan, who was a Beta, hadn’t noticed, but he had thoroughly poured his thick greed all over Siwoo.
“Fayden, it’s Evan.”
When the other party answered the phone, Evan spoke in a small voice.
“Please send me my medicine. And I have a few things I’m curious about.”
Since the filming location and the dorm were quite far, Evan leaned back comfortably in his seat and talked with Fayden. Daehwan seemed to be checking who he was talking with, but soon as English started flowing, he reduced the music volume a bit and concentrated on driving.
Simple greetings were exchanged. It was dawn here but evening time in England, so their conversation grew long.
Following basic greetings, congratulations on Ocean’s activities continued, and next, saying he was checking briefly before sending medicine, they had a conversation related to Evan’s health.
“A hidden Omega.”
The person who knew most accurately about his condition. Since he was his personal doctor who had looked after his health from birth, there was nothing to hide. So he conveyed exactly what he wanted to know.
“A hidden Omega? Did you meet one or something?”
At Fayden’s words that contained a small laugh, Evan clicked his tongue softly. As expected, this reaction. Since hidden Omegas were beings that could only rarely be seen occasionally in academic journals.
“Yes.”
“What?”
This time with a voice from which the laughter had completely disappeared, Fayden rapidly began pouring out all sorts of questions like whether it was really a hidden Omega, how he knew, whether that person also knew it, and so on. This time a smile formed on Evan’s lips as he listened to Fayden’s questions.
“I’ll talk about that later. I need information about imprinting, or more precisely, about pairs.”
He wanted to look it up himself, but right now he didn’t have time. He didn’t have the capacity to dig through all those academic journals, and rather it was better to leave this kind of thing to an expert. And Fayden was one of the top experts who had published countless papers related to Alphas and Omegas.
“…You know about physical imprinting.”
“That hasn’t happened yet, so please check the emotional or mental ones. There was also emotional synchronization.”
Even while on the call, Evan, who was holding Siwoo’s hand, gently stroked Siwoo’s soft back of hand with his thumb. Siwoo’s red lips, deeply asleep, were slightly parted. Seeing him sleep making baby-like sounds, his heart stirred again.
“Emotional synchronization was really possible? When? How much?”
“I can feel it even now. He’s sleeping really comfortably without nightmares and without any dreams at all.”
“…Can’t you tell me who it is?”
“No. The person in question doesn’t know yet.”
Ah… He should correct what he just said. Right now Siwoo was dreaming. He didn’t know what kind of dream he was having, but seeing the smile that briefly appeared and disappeared on Siwoo’s face, Evan’s upper body bent toward Siwoo.
The stolen kiss that the driving Daehwan didn’t know, that the on-call Fayden didn’t know, and that even the sleeping Siwoo didn’t know, was thrilling.
