Yuchan, who had been sitting alone in the dark room, took out his phone.
He looked at the brightly lit screen, then turned the screen off again.
He let out a rough sigh and ruffled his hair messily.
“Why did I do that, why?”
If only he had calmly called Wootae on the spot instead.
If only he had endured and stayed by his side like Haesung.
“…Would it have been different?”
He was immersed in such regret.
He always said they kept running into each other, but whenever a decisive moment approached, he always ended up missing Dohyeong.
Everyone praised his patience, but.
It was all useless words.
He… hadn’t been patient—he had run away.
He said he was going to find people, but in the end, he was too busy soothing himself with fresh air.
By the time he barely found people and brought them back, the situation had already ended.
On top of that, his rut had come too, so he had no capacity to take care of anyone, think about them, or worry about them.
The regret that spread widely left traces of the name Dohyeong. Even now, whenever he thought of that name, one side of his heart ached and became tender.
“…Really, Choi Yuchan.”
If Dohyeong knew he still hadn’t let go of his lingering feelings, he would obviously feel uncomfortable.
He might dig a tunnel with strange sounds saying he had behaved improperly.
It would be better to contact him now, ask about Dohyeong’s well-being, and relieve that heart.
But strangely, his hand wouldn’t move.
“What are you so afraid of?”
The only response to his self-questioning was a deep sigh.
Right, he was scared. It was the first time he had experienced an omega’s heat cycle so closely.
The moment he saw Dohyeong collapsed on the floor trembling, the impulse to make him his omega consumed him.
That fact was endlessly shameful.
No, he was afraid of himself for not being able to hide his instincts like a beast.
“…Should I contact him?”
He whispered softly and turned on the screen again.
“No, it’s just an excuse anyway.”
However, contrary to what he had decided, he turned off the screen again without even trying.
Haa, the long sigh that burst out was rough. He rubbed his face dry with both hands, then tilted his head back.
“If it’s not fate, does it get this twisted?”
Thinking that way meant Dohyeong and Jung Haesung were truly fated.
One corner of his heart was becoming heavy.
If he had been the one to reach out his hand on the set a few days ago.
No, if he had confessed and approached him with a more relaxed appearance.
If not that either…
“…I should have married Dohyeong.”
An empty laugh came out at the conclusion he reached.
He slowly lowered the hand that had been touching his forehead to cover his eyes.
The sigh that leaked through his lips was quite long and deep.
“It was something that wouldn’t work from the beginning anyway.”
Reality was always bitter. The heart that longed for things that couldn’t be achieved was pitiful.
Yuchan’s deep sighs, unable to try anything, filled the dark room.
***
No one really knows where life will roll.
Dohyeong, who had broken up with Haesung, crawled along the bottom, barely climbed up and said he would live his own life, was somehow drawn to Haesung.
Now he ended up staying together at Haesung’s residence until his heat cycle subsided.
When he woke up in the morning, Haesung was in front of his eyes. He ate breakfast with him and spent leisurely time watching TV.
“Hyung, don’t you have a schedule?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“…Do I have to have one?”
“Because it’s a busy time.”
Is this why they say it can be troublesome to have a lover who does the same work?
Knowing everything so thoroughly was a problem if it was a problem.
Haesung smiled faintly and ruffled Dohyeong’s hair messily.
“I said I’d rest because it’s my rut cycle.”
You’re not in rut though.
He was about to retort but kept his mouth shut tight.
Actually, saying it was his rut cycle wasn’t entirely wrong.
It was just that since he released his desire every day beside Dohyeong who was in his heat cycle, there was no time for it to explode.
Thinking about him turning into a beast every night…
Right, he thought that might be correct.
“Why, did you want me to go?”
More mischief.
Dohyeong made a sulky expression for no reason, then lightly bit Haesung’s lips.
“We’ll have to be apart soon anyway.”
“Why?”
At Haesung’s expression hardening stiffly, Dohyeong burst out laughing.
Since when had he become a person who showed everything in his expression?
“I’m going on an overseas location shoot. For filming.”
“…Was that so?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
At Dohyeong’s resolute answer, Haesung thought for a moment.
And soon, recalling <Glass Holding Stars>, he unconsciously nodded his head.
Right, that was it.
As if suddenly realizing, he hugged Dohyeong’s shoulders tightly.
“It’s not that I wasn’t interested. Absolutely not.”
In the end, Dohyeong burst out in loud laughter.
How much had he been keeping in his heart to respond so immediately like this?
That appearance was quite cute and lovable.
Dohyeong, who had burrowed into Haesung’s arms, nodded his head.
“Yeah. I know.”
“Really.”
“Even if I don’t say it, you’re like this.”
“This is a bit insufficient, isn’t it?”
“What’s insufficient?”
When Dohyeong slightly lifted his head to look up at him, he could see Haesung’s face smiling slyly.
“I need to show more clearly that those words are sincere.”
With those words as the end, the two people collapsed onto the sofa with a plop.
A gentle smile hung at the end of their interlocked lips.
May they be happy like this forever.
May they no longer be hurt by unnecessary emotions.
He was earnestly hoping.
***
The sound of pulling the carrier was loud.
Dohyeong, who arrived at the airport late at night, was walking toward the meeting place with Wootae.
“Hey, Dohyeong.”
At that moment, Wootae, who had been chasing from behind, came close to Dohyeong.
“Yeah?”
“That… you know, if you meet Yuchan later.”
He could tell at once what he was trying to say from his hesitating manner.
He must be quite worried. But I’m not a child.
Dohyeong nodded and smiled.
“Hyung doesn’t need to worry.”
At that, Wootae let out a sigh of relief. He even made a groaning sound while patting his chest.
“Right. He wouldn’t have… done it on purpose. That situation was probably just scary.”
“Yeah. I know. I know how fatal an omega’s pheromones are to an alpha.”
Because he had felt it with his body for several days.
He decided to swallow the last words and tried hard to suppress the smile that was about to form on his lips.
Wootae patted and gently rubbed Dohyeong’s back.
“You’re not hurt, right?”
“What hurt? I’m fine. Actually…”
Dohyeong, who had been thinking for a moment, swallowed his dry saliva bitterly.
It was a thought he had ruminated on several times. Perhaps Haesung had the same thought too.
“The fact that he went to call other people even after smelling the pheromones is something to be grateful for. Nothing happened in the end anyway.”
“Hey, that’s-“
He was about to say that’s what he should have done, but Wootae couldn’t continue his words in the end.
Even though everyone knows it’s natural, there are things that aren’t easy.
This was one of those cases.
That’s why inevitable incidents burst out every time an omega’s heat cycle came.
Moreover, Yuchan liked Dohyeong.
Whether it became past tense or was still present progressive, he didn’t know.
“So I’m actually grateful to Yuchan. I absolutely have no negative feelings.”
While talking to Wootae and nodding his head, Dohyeong glanced ahead.
And he smiled faintly. Hesitating and approaching from far away was.
“…Can’t be a gentleman.”
Because it was Yuchan, who had been the topic of their conversation just moments ago.
He approached the two people hesitantly and bowed his head to Wootae.
“It’s been a while, hyung.”
“Yeah, right. You’ve been well?”
Awkward.
It couldn’t be more awkward.
Not wanting to be buried in the awkward air between the two people, Wootae clowned around and checked the time.
“I’ll go check when I should go through the procedures. You two, uh, talk!”
“Hyung, that can be done later-“
“I’m going!”
Dohyeong grabbed Wootae, but he walked swiftly to the counter without looking back.
What an awkward situation.
He said he didn’t dislike Yuchan or have bad feelings toward him, but that didn’t mean facing him wasn’t awkward.
“Have you been… well?”
It was an awkward greeting if there ever was one.
Dohyeong, who had been moving his lips to respond, let out a big sigh.
“Are you going to act like someone who committed a crime?”
At Dohyeong’s question that followed, Yuchan’s body flinched.
“Huh? Me, me?”
“Yeah. You. Just now with a very crawling voice, you greeted me while prostrating yourself. Isn’t that right?”
He couldn’t deny it.
Yuchan, who had been hesitating, scratched his head.
“No, but…”
“But what? If you keep doing this, I’ll feel more sorry and awkward.”
“Still, I did to you…”
Yuchan couldn’t continue his words.
He let out a sigh and scratched his head roughly, then looked at Dohyeong with a tearful face.
“I’m actually just grateful.”
Since it was an answer he hadn’t expected at all, Yuchan looked at Dohyeong while tightly gripping the bag he was holding.
“Right? Nothing happened, and you went to call people to help.”
“…That’s, but still…”
“If it was a heat cycle, the pheromones must have been tremendous, but you endured until the end. Thank you, Yuchan.”
Really, so like Kim Dohyeong.
It would have been easier on his heart if he had questioned why he did that, whether he couldn’t have at least made a phone call by his side when something might have happened.
At Dohyeong’s appearance saying thank you to him instead, Yuchan couldn’t say anything.
Dohyeong’s hand came up on the shoulder of him who had lowered his head and was sighing.
“So I hope you’ll stop feeling sorry now.”
“…Yeah.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“…Yeah, I know.”
At the still crawling voice, Dohyeong slightly narrowed his brow.
At times like this, a frontal attack is best. Dohyeong raised his hand blade and lightly struck Yuchan’s neckline with a thwack!
Startled, Yuchan lifted his head and clutched his neck. Meeting his widened eyes, Dohyeong deliberately made a stern expression and narrowed his brow.
“If you keep doing that, I’ll keep pretending I don’t know you.”
Even this was so like Kim Dohyeong.
Yuchan chuckled and nodded his head.
“Okay, got it. I won’t do it anymore.”
“Hey, and a guy who’s sorry didn’t even send a single message?”
“No, that’s…”
He became intimidated again.
He should just say it wasn’t that he didn’t want to contact him. He didn’t know why he kept running out of things to say.
He also wanted to show a confident appearance.
After scratching his head, he opened his mouth with difficulty.
“In case you were angry.”
“Why, for leaving me behind?”
“If you say that, I think we’ll be back to square one.”
“You know well, at least.”
At Dohyeong’s appearance looking at him with rolling eyes, Yuchan ended up bursting into laughter.
Right, this was the kind of person he was.
The person he liked, the person whose feelings he still hadn’t completely erased. Kim Dohyeong was always like sunshine.
At some point, clouds gradually cast over that sunshine, and his heart ached so he paid more attention.
And so he wanted to take care of him more and more, and that heart soon became affection.
He wanted him to smile because of him. He hoped to become his happiness, and even if not the only one, he wanted to become a rope he could rely on and grab most.
A rope like that, that he could firmly hold onto and endure anywhere, anytime.
“Is your body okay now?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. It completely subsided, so I feel light.”
“That’s a relief. It must be hard for you too. Having to go through it every time…”
“Really. You act like you don’t go through rut. You’re the same.”
Yuchan smiled and nodded his head.
He should keep it a secret that his rut came after facing Dohyeong like that.
“By the way, I’m really hungry. I couldn’t eat dinner properly either.”
“There’s in-flight meals.”
“Want to go eat bread? Airport bread is so delicious.”
“Okay, let’s go eat. I’ll buy this as a commemoration of our reconciliation.”
“Reconciliation? Did you fight with me?”
“Hey. You…”
At Dohyeong who didn’t lose a single word and countered, Yuchan sighed as if troubled.
At that appearance, Dohyeong burst out laughing.
It’s a joke, a joke. He tapped Yuchan’s back and walked together with him.
He finally felt a bit more at ease. Just the fact that it wasn’t awkward was enough.
At that moment, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
When he checked the arrived message, Dohyeong had to barely suppress the smile that leaked out.
Jung Haesung
The commercial shoot is hard
(Photo)
It was a photo of Haesung wearing a suit.
Come to think of it, he said he had a suit commercial shoot today.
Even taking a photo and reporting his day was really unlike Haesung.
And soon after, another message arrived.
Jung Haesung
Come back safely
Be careful of Choi Yuchan
In the end, the laughter he had been holding back burst out.
Was he this cute of a person?
It didn’t seem like he was someone who got jealous about everything and paid attention to such things.
Regret seemed to change many things. Dohyeong, who had been quietly looking at his phone, tapped on the screen with one hand.
Jung Haesung
I’ll come back safely
Do well on the commercial shoot
Cheer up hyung
I think I just need to be careful of you
After pressing the send button, he shrugged his shoulders toward Yuchan who was looking at him strangely.
They hadn’t even departed yet, but he wanted to finish quickly and go back home.
Not to the home he had lived in with Haesung long ago.
But to the new home of Haesung and his, that he had prepared for him.
