Only after watching Hyowoo enter the apartment building all the way did Seohee finally turn his steps toward the parking lot.
Step by step, his footsteps were quite light.
The smile on his lips still remained.
Maintaining a smiling face in front of people required a lot of energy, so when he was alone, he was quick to erase it. Yet even so, his upturned lips barely came down.
‘To think I’d end up having dinner at Hyowoo-ssi’s house.’
It wasn’t particularly that he’d been trying to go to his house.
His appointment with Taeseo had suddenly been canceled, leaving a gap in his schedule. He’d contacted him simply thinking to meet a bit earlier, and then ended up visiting his house unexpectedly at Gyeonwoo’s invitation.
At first, he politely declined, thinking it wasn’t proper etiquette to visit without prior notice.
Hyowoo, who still hadn’t made up his mind, was reluctant to introduce Seohee to his family. If so, then this invitation must be the younger brother Gyeonwoo’s unilateral decision, made without his older brother’s consent. If he visited like this, Hyowoo would definitely be put in an awkward position.
However, Gyeonwoo said it was fine, that their parents weren’t home either so not to feel burdened, and repeatedly urged him to come to the house and wait for his hyung.
Even after declining two more times after that, Gyeonwoo hardly backed down.
‘I guess it’s because they’re twins—their stubbornness is exactly the same.’
Moreover, this persistence didn’t seem to be intended to tease his hyung. He seemed to want to personally confirm what kind of person ‘Lee Seohee,’ whom his hyung was meeting, was.
After hearing the plea of ‘please, I’m begging you, you must come,’ it reached the point where refusing further felt like it would be rude.
‘Well, there’s no need to get on the bad side of the person I like’s younger brother for no reason.’
In fact, Seohee had also wanted to meet the twin brother he’d only heard about—’noisy, chaotic, and cheeky, but kind and thoughtful.’ He’d been curious about Saewoo, who had helped with their first video call, so there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
His first visit to Hyowoo’s house was much more enjoyable than expected.
Just as he’d guessed, he was someone who had grown up loved in a harmonious family. Just watching the way he spoke with his younger brother and their bickering, you could immediately feel how close the family was.
Seohee too had grown up receiving a lot of love, but thanks to having exceptional parents, the time his family spent together was relatively scarce.
For him, who had spent most of his childhood in boarding schools, the sight of a family living together bustling under one roof was quite enviable.
Also, he could see new aspects of Hyowoo that he hadn’t been able to see until now, which was refreshing.
It was nice to meet Gyeonwoo in person, who had the same face but the opposite personality, and he was satisfied to have been able to stroke Saewoo’s fluffy fur.
There were also unexpected gains.
Through Gyeonwoo’s reaction, he could naturally pick up on the fact that among the siblings, he had established himself as Hyowoo’s romantic partner.
At least between his noona and younger brother, the evaluation of him didn’t seem too bad.
Though he ended up unable to use the word ‘boyfriend’ in front of Hyowoo. But he could use that as an excuse to hug him once, so in the end, it was a gain.
‘I’m relieved that he seems to have gained weight compared to when I saw him at the airport.’
Seohee had noticed long ago that Hyowoo wore layers of clothes to hide how thin he was.
However, today he definitely felt that he had put on some flesh compared to then.
His expression had also improved considerably.
Of course, compared to ‘that day’ when he’d first seen him, shadows still remained, but at least he was brighter than during their blind date.
‘Even so, is it really okay for a man in his twenties to have such a slim waist?’
Seohee didn’t care at all what his partner’s body type was like, but if his body was this delicate, it was true that he worried about his health.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any problems like eating disorders, so as Gyeonwoo had asked, he resolved to feed him a lot of delicious and hearty food.
‘And has there been some change? The “fragrance” seems to have gotten stronger.’
He’d thought the fragrance he’d smelled during the blind date was a pheromone, but now he was certain it wasn’t.
The first reason was that Hyowoo was afraid of Alphas.
Two days ago, Seohee had happened to witness him secretly taking heat suppressants in the bathroom.
Omegas took heat suppressants once a day, as soon as they woke up.
Depending on the situation they might take additional doses, but more than one pill a day was rarely needed, and the aftereffects of overdosing were known to be considerable.
Hyowoo was so thorough that he took additional suppressants in the afternoon, enduring even the aftereffects to prepare for any possible situation. There was no way such a person would let pheromones that could seduce Alphas leak out.
The second reason was that even though he, an Alpha, smelled that fragrance, he felt absolutely no sexual stimulation.
While Dominant Alphas could suppress the temptation of pheromones, it was rare for them to be completely unresponsive.
It was normal to feel at least a little stimulation, but the scent coming from him was merely a fragrant aroma and didn’t arouse sexual desire.
Lastly, the scent coming from Hyowoo was clearly different from existing pheromone scents.
Omega pheromones were usually of the aphrodisiac scents variety that stimulated sexual desire, like vanilla, cinnamon, or lavender.
In comparison, Hyowoo’s scent was clear and pure. Clean yet subtly sweet, like apple blossoms laden with honey on a warm spring day.
That scent was so sweet that he even had the absurd thought, ‘Could a body that contains such a sweet smell actually be sweet too?’
In the end, as if bewitched, he’d ended up kissing his forehead. Whether it was his imagination or not, he seemed to actually faintly taste sweetness.
Hyowoo, who had been shy even with a light embrace, was half dazed when he kissed his forehead. He blushed on his white cheeks and looked up at Seohee with wide eyes.
That appearance was so pretty and lovely that he barely suppressed the desire to devour his lips right then and there.
‘It’s already been eight months since our blind date, and it’s only a kiss on the forehead.’
Even in high school, he’d never been unable to progress this slowly.
A chuckle escaped him.
Normally, by now they would have naturally flowed into a kiss and even the relationship after that. Only with Hyowoo was everything slow and cautious.
Hyowoo had a mature and capable personality, but on the other hand, he had timid and delicate sides.
If he tried to forcibly close the distance with such a person, he would be startled and avoid him, and sudden skinship would naturally frighten him.
So as not to fluster him with impatient feelings or hurt him by being greedy, Seohee approached him carefully without rushing.
‘Not only did I confess first, but I say I like him every day… The people around me probably wouldn’t believe it. Even I’m sometimes surprised.’
Since entering Korea this time, Seohee had told Hyowoo he liked him without missing a single day whenever they met.
He probably had a lot on his mind and was sensitive by nature, so he seemed to easily become anxious even over trivial things.
It was like that when they ran into Royoon at the hotel, and when they saw Hyekyung at the baseball stadium.
He smiled pretending to be fine, but a faint sadness lingered in his eyes.
It was clear he couldn’t shake off the thought that ‘I don’t suit Lee Seohee.’
For someone suffering alone like that, it was necessary to instill confidence in some way.
How could he reduce the anxiety? What should he do to avoid misunderstandings? He agonized over it repeatedly.
The conclusion he reached in the end was surprisingly simple.
‘I have no choice but to keep telling him I like him until he accepts it.’
It might be extremely simple-minded, but for a personality like Hyowoo’s, that was the most effective method.
His prediction was on target.
Each time he confessed, he would blush as if embarrassed, but in those moments at least, he showed a noticeably relaxed expression.
However, if there was one regrettable thing, it was that Hyowoo still hadn’t said ‘I like you’ back.
‘Can’t be helped, can it? It’s not like I didn’t expect it.’
Hyowoo’s Alpha-phobia was like the ‘fear’ humans feel when facing imminent death.
He turned pale and trembled as if he’d seen a monster, and his body swayed as if he’d collapse at any moment.
To fear a specific target this much could only be explained by trauma.
Moreover, Hyowoo reacted abnormally sensitively even to others’ touch.
The body part that Alphas were particularly obsessed with on Omegas was the nape of the neck where pheromone scent was strong. When extremist Alpha supremacists abused Omegas, the area they most severely injured was also precisely that spot.
The fact that he covered his neck tightly even in the hot summer, and that the area where he showed the strongest rejection was his nape and shoulders. Added to that, the overprotectiveness and wariness Gyeonwoo showed when dealing with his hyung.
Putting all these circumstances together, only one speculation remained.
‘Hyowoo-ssi was probably… by an Alpha…’
Strength naturally entered his fist.
The incident probably happened before he met Taeseo. So it must have been before entering university.
Thinking that he’d experienced such a terrible thing at a young age, he couldn’t control the rising fury.
What he’d said to Gyeonwoo—’If there’s such a person, I’ll bury them’—was absolutely not a joke.
Several years ago, during that period when he wanted to let go of everything. He resolved that he would absolutely not leave alone whoever hurt the existence that had been his only comfort.
‘It seems like he’s opened his heart to me a little bit at least, but… Hyowoo-ssi might still be scared just by the fact that I’m an Alpha.’
Moreover, Seohee was by no means someone with an ordinary background.
Each and every condition surrounding him made things more burdensome for Hyowoo.
Would saying ‘Your past doesn’t matter to me at all’ make the situation a bit better?
He’d once had such naive thoughts.
However, if he carelessly brought up such words, he might instead touch on memories he didn’t want to recall.
He couldn’t make Hyowoo face his painful past again because of his own greed.
If so, then the only thing he could do now was convey his sincerity.
From the first day of their blind date, he’d been prepared for a long-term relationship anyway.
Thanks to his field work, he was more confident than anyone in stamina, mental strength, and patience.
Don’t be impatient, don’t rush him.
He decided to give Hyowoo enough time and space to accept things on his own.
‘The whole day was fulfilling and enjoyable, so let’s end today on a good note.’
Just as he was thinking that and quickening his steps, an inexplicable uneasiness rose like smoke from somewhere in his mind.
‘Why is it? I have the feeling that there are still more reasons why Hyowoo-ssi is hesitating…’
It was then.
Lost in thought, Seohee, who had been walking silently along the dark path, suddenly stopped.
