“Hey, should I go pull up some grass for you or something?”
The Club President said to Wooyeon in a meaningful tone. When Wooyeon just stared at him without responding, he raised one palm in apology.
“Anyway, you’re responsible for the pancakes, okay?”
The Club President patted Wooyeon’s shoulder and turned around, but was pushed back by someone squeezing into the narrow kitchen. A student who had roughly pushed past the Club President entered and blinked rapidly when she saw Wooyeon’s face. In her hand was an order slip hastily written on a Post-it note, suggesting she’d just taken an order.
“Wow, Seo Wooyeon is here?”
She said with a genuinely surprised expression.
“Hey, you know who I am? I’m the one who brought Seo Wooyeon here…”
“But why is he here? A visual like that should be out front bringing in customers. With no business sense like that, how are you gonna run a chicken restaurant later?”
Cutting off the Club President’s words, she looked at him with pitying eyes. Then she grabbed the wrist of Wooyeon, who was holding the ladle. Flustered, Wooyeon put the ladle back into the large plastic container and was led away from the burner by her pull.
“Hey, the chicken restaurant is after I retire…”
“Give him your apron. Jang Boram can make the pancakes instead.”
“Could you at least ask me?”
“You just flip the pancakes properly. Without burning them.”
Cutting off the Club President’s words again, she stuck the Post-it on the table as she spoke. At her matter-of-fact look, Wooyeon fumbled with his hands and took off his apron. Then she snatched the apron from Wooyeon’s hands, handed it to the Club President, and dragged Wooyeon back outside the kitchen.
“You’re the face of the place, so just stand outside and bring in customers. That’s the most important thing.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Wooyeon, who had been practically shoved out to the entrance of the bar, raised his head. Under the gradually deepening sky, the tents were each glowing with light.
How many busy-looking people had he sent off? Two shadows that had approached with their backs to the light stood in front of Wooyeon. A familiar scent touched his skin.
Wooyeon’s eyes met with Jeonghan’s as he was about to enter the bar. And next to him stood Chu Seonyoung, who was rumored to be dating him.
“Sunbae, hello.”
It was Seonyoung who greeted first. As Wooyeon awkwardly responded to Seonyoung’s greeting, Jeonghan stopped walking and was staring at Wooyeon.
“Sunbae, what are you doing here?”
Seonyoung, who had been about to enter the bar, stopped and stood next to Jeonghan again. Feeling self-conscious for no reason, Wooyeon looked at Seonyoung and their eyes met. Flustered, Wooyeon withdrew his gaze and looked at Jeonghan again.
“Ah, I had some time left before going to my part-time job today. I was helping out at the bar.”
“…Is that so?”
Jeonghan answered in a flat voice. Just when Wooyeon was thinking that his downcast eyes seemed somehow cold, Jeonghan walked past him into the tent. Seonyoung also followed him inside, leaving only the sound of her high heels. His heart stung again with a sharp poke.
“Whoa, Kwon Jeonghan, you came all the way here?”
Looking inside the tent, Jeonghan was sitting down with a face full of laughter, unlike before. The classmate who had earlier stationed Wooyeon outside as the face of the place brought over a menu and teased him.
“Sunbae is working, but you show up at the bar with your girlfriend in tow—living the good life, aren’t you?”
“Oh, sunbae told us to come. And Jeonghan oppa transported all the ingredients by car before the bar opened.”
It was Seonyoung who defended Jeonghan. As Seonyoung bent her head halfway to look at the menu, the large earrings hanging from her ears glittered silver. It wasn’t just the earrings that sparkled.
For some reason, Wooyeon felt pathetic standing outside the tent and lowered his head. Laughter continued to pour out from inside the tent.
* * *
Wooyeon, who had been assigned to bring in customers outside the tent as the face of the place, soon had his role changed to serving inside because he was just standing still without living up to his face value. The Club President grabbed Wooyeon, who had been moving through the narrow spaces between the closely packed tables while carrying food, and whispered.
“Hey. That guy, isn’t that him?”
“What?”
“Look over there.”
The place where the Club President nodded toward was the table where Jeonghan and his girlfriend Seonyoung were sitting. At the end of Wooyeon’s turned gaze was Seoha. He had come wearing sunglasses at night and was sitting at their table, removing his sunglasses.
“That’s pianist Lee Seoha, right? Wow, isn’t he our school’s most famous person?”
“Should I get his autograph?” he added in a serious voice.
The three of them were happily tilting their glasses and laughing and chatting together at one table.
‘If I were really a dominant omega, you wouldn’t have even had a chance. You know that?’
Over Seoha’s smiling face, the words Seoha had said in spite came to mind. While coveting Jeonghan, how could he laugh and chat like that with Chu Seonyoung? Wooyeon was confused and couldn’t understand.
Leaving behind the fussing Club President, Wooyeon went to the back of the kitchen. He didn’t have the confidence to watch them.
“I just need to take this outside, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
A junior who was busily working in the kitchen answered roughly. Wooyeon picked up the empty soju crate and left the kitchen again, and his eyes met with Jeonghan, who was sitting at the table. It was Wooyeon who averted his eyes first.
Through the noisy commotion, Wooyeon escaped that persistent gaze and came outside the tent. The air, with its increased humidity as summer approached, was strangely muggy.
“Phew…”
As Wooyeon put down the soju crate outside the tent, the sound of soju bottles clinking rattled. When Wooyeon exhaled another long sigh and raised his head, Jeonghan was in front of him as if it were a lie. The eyes looking at Wooyeon blinked slowly.
Jeonghan was silent, and unlike before, he didn’t look very pleased. This time too, it was Wooyeon who averted his eyes first. When Wooyeon turned his head and walked to the side past Jeonghan, Jeonghan grabbed Wooyeon’s wrist.
Wooyeon looked at his caught wrist and then raised his eyes to look at Jeonghan. From Jeonghan came a faint pheromone scent along with the smell of alcohol. Jeonghan silently pulled Wooyeon and walked toward Sanggyeong Hall.
“Wh-what are you doing!”
Wooyeon looked back and forth between the bar and Jeonghan as he shouted in a low voice. Through the open tent, he could see Chu Seonyoung and Lee Seoha having a conversation. Wooyeon’s eyes shook anxiously. The two entered Sanggyeong Hall where lights were turned off here and there.
“Kwon Jeonghan!”
By Jeonghan’s strength, Wooyeon was helplessly dragged along. Through the large windows of Sanggyeong Hall, the bars lined up in a row could be seen.
The place Jeonghan brought him to was the first-floor restroom. As the restroom sensor light turned on, before the bathroom door even closed behind them, Jeonghan’s face approached.
“Mmph…!”
Jeonghan, who had hooked Wooyeon’s waist, swallowed Wooyeon’s lips. At the same time, Jeonghan’s pheromones poured down over Wooyeon’s body. Bang! The bathroom door closed with a heavy sound.
Wooyeon staggered and opened his lips, and Jeonghan pushed his tongue through the opened mouth, shoving Wooyeon into a bathroom stall. From the approaching Jeonghan, Wooyeon faintly sensed another omega’s pheromones. Even that faint scent somehow made Wooyeon feel unpleasant. Jeonghan, who had tilted his head to insert his tongue deeper, locked the stall door with one hand.
“Hnng, mm!”
With the urgent kiss, every time their lips parted, Jeonghan’s breath poured over Wooyeon’s cheeks. With the strong pheromones, Wooyeon was helpless. When he pressed the bathroom stall with trembling hands, Jeonghan’s hand painfully dug between those fingers. Just the touch of skin was enough to excite him, and Wooyeon looked at Jeonghan while exhaling labored breaths.
Jeonghan’s arousal was evident. The lower body that touched him was frighteningly erect.
“Why, why… wait a minute…”
At the suddenly pouring pheromones, Wooyeon trembled while being held by Jeonghan. These were much stronger pheromones than usual. As Wooyeon resisted, Jeonghan’s long exhale was also unstable. For a moment, a word flashed through Wooyeon’s mind. Rut cycle.
“You…”
The rest of his words were again eaten by Jeonghan’s mouth. With the wetly mixing tongues, Wooyeon again sensed another omega’s pheromones from Jeonghan. Even though he’d thought every time that it was possible, his heart felt like it was dropping.
Wooyeon pushed Jeonghan away with arms that had no strength. It was an instinctive act.
“What is this, all of a sudden…”
The pushed-away Jeonghan and Wooyeon’s eyes met again. Above the lips glistening with saliva, the eyes looking at him were not normal. He felt afraid with a thud, and inside the narrow bathroom stall, all sides were blocked.
Wooyeon, who had been backing away, was soon blocked by a wall and cornered. Only then did Wooyeon realize that the other omega’s pheromones Jeonghan was covered in weren’t unfamiliar. It was the scent from the omega perfume that Lee Seoha had been wearing.
“Kwon Jeonghan, wait… ah…!”
As Wooyeon’s body swayed from Jeonghan’s pheromones pouring again, Jeonghan caught Wooyeon’s upper body. Just the skin touching made him shiver.
“Haa, I’m not in the mood to go easy on you right now, so use your head well.”
The low voice seemed to growl. When Jeonghan flipped Wooyeon’s body and pushed him toward the wall, he hit the wall with a bang sound. Wooyeon leaned his cheek and shoulder against the wall and exhaled hot breaths. From his half-closed eyes, tears flowed down for an unknown reason.
