“…Shall we go up?”
Really, what’s wrong with me? After saying it, the nuance felt strange. Didn’t it feel like an atmosphere as if they were entering a hotel room together?
As if Ian was the only one restless, Ganghyuk climbed the stairs first with his usual impassive face. Following behind him, Ian kept swallowing down sighs that tried to burst out.
No matter how he thought about it, the things that had happened today seemed like he’d thrown a tantrum to Ganghyuk. Just looking at Ganghyuk’s complexion caked with fatigue, you could tell work was very busy.
Even in the midst of that, he was grateful that he’d rushed over immediately at his contact, but he worried about what to do if Ganghyuk was finding his behavior bothersome inside.
One-sided love makes a person endlessly timid.
At the thought that came to him unconsciously, another deep sigh tried to burst out, so he bit his lip. Ganghyuk, who was standing in front of the door, smiled faintly at such an Ian.
“Hurry in and sleep. Don’t think useless thoughts.”
“Okay…”
Ian slowly took off his sneakers and walked slowly to his room like an inchworm crawling. Even so, he kept turning his head and looking at Ganghyuk like someone with lingering attachment.
Ganghyuk, who had been undoing his shirt buttons one by one from the top, saw that sight and gave a hollow laugh.
“Why? Too full to fall asleep right away?”
“Rather than that…”
Ian, who swallowed dry saliva, thought this was the moment and turned his body. Clasping both hands together, he stared up at Ganghyuk.
“Can I sleep together in the Executive Director’s room today?”
He felt very disappointed to spend today like this. Tomorrow Ganghyuk would go out to work at the crack of dawn again and he didn’t know when he’d return, so he wanted to at least sleep in the same room.
At the meaningful words, the smile disappeared from Ganghyuk’s lips as if washed away. His expressionless face gave off an atmosphere cool as frost.
Ganghyuk walked soundlessly and approached Ian. Due to the height difference, Ian’s head gradually tilted back.
“Baby.”
That term of endearment again. At the word mentioning their age difference, instead of answering, Ian breathed in deeply. Ganghyuk’s pheromones spreading in the air faintly brushed past the tip of his nose.
The deep leather scent made his heart flutter. Just smelling it like this was good, but how nice would it be to bury his head in his nape—at the brazen imagination, the tips of his ears heated up.
“You know that I’m an alpha and you’re an omega, right?”
“Of course.”
Though he trembled a lot, he tried his best not to show it. He also felt a bit of anticipation. Because it seemed Ganghyuk had an awareness that he wasn’t just a kid but an omega.
At the thought that just as he felt excitement at Ganghyuk’s pheromones, he too might find his pheromones attractive, he subtly released his pheromones.
“Look at this.”
One corner of Ganghyuk’s mouth tilted diagonally. As the omega’s pheromones that should have been repulsive felt sweet, a faint tension arose as if an invisible thread was being pulled taut.
To think he’d feel this kind of sexual tension toward a kid not even half his size.
Come to think of it, the last time he’d released his desires had already been several months ago. Even so, if he hadn’t been attracted to his partner, it wouldn’t have happened.
Ganghyuk had to acknowledge it. That he was sexually attracted to this child right now. Whether it was because of pheromones or something else.
His sharp gaze swept down over the face still soft with peach fuzz. Objectively, he was an outstanding beauty, but too young. It wasn’t particularly that he had a conscience pushing him away.
It was just that the problem was Ian’s face from when he was much younger than now still vividly rose in Ganghyuk’s mind even now.
Not only was he disinclined to have sex with a kid drunk on fleeting lust, but a light romance suited the two of them even less.
Moreover, the affection Ian was feeling toward him now was nothing more than temporary. Having lost his guardian overnight and appearing dramatically in a situation where he’d suffered a terrible incident, he was feeling abnormal emotions toward him.
Probably if just a little time passed, he’d come to his senses. If a wonderful partner his own age appeared, his heart would clearly change in an instant. It was clearly a heart as light as dandelion fluff.
“Don’t fool around and go in and sleep. Don’t talk like this to other alphas.”
Ganghyuk brought his thumb and index finger together and lightly flicked Ian’s nostril. Ian frowned and covered his nose with both hands.
Leaving behind Ian who was stepping backward, Ganghyuk entered his room and lay down on the bed without even washing. As soon as he covered his eyes with his arm, drowsiness rushed over him. With a feeling of his body sinking down, he fell into a deep sleep.
Alone in the living room, Ian rubbed his reddened nose tip and glared at the half-open bedroom door.
He’d realized from what just happened. That Ganghyuk had long since noticed his feelings. Since he’d had a wet dream about Ganghyuk, he’d been worried about being caught, but thinking he wouldn’t know yet, he’d acted crazy and expressed his feelings by saying he wanted to sleep in the same room.
However, Ganghyuk wasn’t shaken at all. Rather, as if he’d heard an insipid joke, he lightly pushed him away and disappeared into his room.
Am I that lacking in charm?
At the thought that suddenly came to him, he became a bit depressed. Well, aside from his young age and being a dominant omega, Ian was penniless and a debtor.
As he imagined a person who could stand next to Ganghyuk without being outmatched, his mood sank even more.
Still, he didn’t want to give up like this. While agonizing over how to appeal his charm, his legs went numb, so he went into the bathroom, washed, and came out. Even until then, beyond Ganghyuk’s bedroom door it was quiet.
Did he fall asleep without even washing? He should undo his belt to sleep comfortably. And while at it, take off his socks too.
Even as water droplets dripped onto his shoulders from his not-quite-dry hair, Ian paced in front of Ganghyuk’s bedroom door like a puppy that needed to poop.
Eventually, Ganghyuk silently opened his eyes. Though he was really tired, Ian’s presence bothered him. Though it had improved somewhat now, just a few years ago Ganghyuk had slept with a jackknife under his pillow even when going to sleep at night.
Chairman Tae was a self-made man. With his fists alone, he’d steadily expanded his territory and finally built up a large company.
He was generous to his people but merciless to his enemies. As a result, many who wanted to kill him arose. Even in the early days of establishing the company, assassins endlessly attached themselves to Ganghyuk, who had attended to him most closely.
Sometimes it was in broad daylight, sometimes they aimed for nights when Ganghyuk was asleep. If you looked closely at the tiger tattoo, the knife wounds he’d taken with his body back then remained as scars.
Even though the period of crudely fighting with knives had passed, Ganghyuk still couldn’t sleep deeply. Even now, having stayed up nearly three days and nights.
Ganghyuk, who got up from the bed, slowly swept his face with his palm. If it had been another guy, he would have chased him away before he could act bothersome. But the kid who was grating on his nerves right now—he couldn’t do that.
He watched Ian, who was leaning his shoulder against the doorframe with his head deeply bowed. Even though he kept staring with a tired face, Ian, as if absorbed in deep thought, didn’t notice even though Ganghyuk was standing right in front of him.
“What are you doing?”
“Hik!”
When he made a sound, Ian jumped up from his spot like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. At how he was startled to an absurd degree, Ganghyuk’s eyes softened a bit.
“Ah, weren’t you sleeping?”
“I was sleeping. But I woke up thanks to you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you…”
“Then?”
Ganghyuk lightly leaned the side of his head against the doorframe. As his languidly relaxed eyes gave off a strange atmosphere, Ian stammered with a flushed face.
“Y-you seemed to have fallen asleep without even washing… I was wondering if I should at least take off your socks…”
Even while speaking, Ian couldn’t quite meet Ganghyuk’s eyes. Half his embarrassed feelings were from the thought of having woken a tired person, and half were from feeling shy because Ganghyuk full of drowsiness looked more sensual than usual.
