At those casually spoken words, Seonwoo raised his eyes to look at Iwon. Iwon quietly picked up Seonwoo's hand resting on the table and pressed a shot glass of soju into it.
“Drink. Then stay the night.”
“...I told you, I'm driving.”
“I don't want to drink alone.”
Unable to win against Iwon's stubbornness, Seonwoo let out a quiet sigh to himself and adjusted his grip on the glass.
“Fine. Then I will.”
The drinking that had begun over dinner continued after they moved to a nearby hotel.
Out of all the countless places they could have stayed, somehow the hotel that perfectly suited Iwon's taste just happened to be right next to the restaurant. As they walked there without even needing a taxi, Seonwoo realized this hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision at all. Iwon had planned everything before they'd even entered the restaurant.
Thanks to Iwon's persistence, Seonwoo was beginning to feel pleasantly drunk himself. Tilting the bottle, he studied Iwon.
A little more, and he'll probably be drunk...
“Pack your things for next Tuesday. Heejun and I are going to the villa in Namwon to relax for a few days. Come with us.”
“So suddenly?”
“You're going to have a rough winter. You should at least get a few days of rest first.”
“...I don't know. I still have classes until Thursday.”
“Exams are over. Skip one day. Your attendance's been great this semester anyway.”
“What a delinquent.”
Seonwoo teased him as he lazily swirled the liquor in his glass.
He didn't want to be a third wheel. Besides, there was someone he wanted to see after the semester ended.
Remembering the face that had repeatedly reminded him to keep his promise, Seonwoo smiled faintly and shook his head.
“No thanks. You two go.”
“Come with us. I've already bought your plane ticket.”
“I don't want Heejun calling me an oblivious senior.”
Iwon froze at the unusual refusal.
His expression tightened ever so slightly with displeasure, but Seonwoo never noticed. Instead, he found himself thinking that the amber liquor sloshing in his glass was almost the same color as Eun Hyeonchae's eyes.
Once Choi Iwon falls asleep, I'll sneak out and buy some cigarettes. ...I wonder if he'd answer if I called.
Absentmindedly staring into his glass, Seonwoo smiled to himself.
Across from him, Iwon's expression gradually turned cold.
“Nam Seonwoo, you...”
Both phones on the table vibrated at exactly the same time.
As though by prior arrangement, each instinctively looked at the other's phone first.
The call coming in on Iwon's phone was from Heejun.
Only after confirming it with his own eyes did Seonwoo look away. Then he noticed Hyeonchae's name lighting up his own screen in a message notification.
He hurriedly covered the display with his hand.
Too late.
Iwon's gaze had already settled on it.
The corner of his rigid mouth twisted into a crooked smile.
“Why are you hiding it?”
The tension beneath his calm tone made Seonwoo unconsciously lick his dry lips.
“I'm not hiding anything.... Heejun's calling. Answer it.”
“Who is it?”
“...Iwon.”
“I asked who.”
As Iwon's pheromones slowly spread through the room, Seonwoo felt himself sober up almost instantly.
You already saw it. Do you really need to hear me say it?
After letting out an uncomfortable sigh, he finally answered.
“Hyeonchae.”
Just as expected, Iwon replied with open sarcasm.
“You two must be pretty close. Messaging each other this late.”
“It's not like th—”
“Go ahead and reply. He's probably waiting.”
“He can wait until tomorrow. We're both drunk. Let's just call it a ni— Ah.”
As Seonwoo reached for the bottle again, Iwon slapped his hand away hard and stared directly at him.
“There's something wrong with you, Nam Seonwoo.”
Faced with those icy eyes, Seonwoo instinctively inhaled.
The pheromones already filling the room crashed over him all at once.
Unable to endure them, Seonwoo clamped a hand over his mouth.
“...Mm. Hey... your pheromones...”
He'd thought he'd grown accustomed to Iwon's pheromones.
He had been wrong.
The pheromones of a dominant Alpha deliberately trying to force someone beneath him into submission were on an entirely different level.
Losing control to this extent was a dangerous sign.
Frowning, Seonwoo tried to gauge Iwon's condition, but before he could, he felt like he would collapse first.
He hurried to the window.
The moment he opened it, fresh air rushed inside, allowing him to breathe again.
As he gripped the windowsill with veins standing out across the back of his hand, Iwon's hand suddenly covered his.
The unexpected touch froze him before he could even turn around.
Without taking his eyes off Seonwoo's reflection in the glass, Iwon leaned closer and whispered into his ear.
“I met with the elders yesterday. They gave us permission for me to marry Heejun.”
He had expected this ever since they first met.
Even so, hearing it directly from Iwon made his mind go blank.
It felt like an eviction notice for the coward who had remained by Iwon's side under the title of "friend."
Unable to say a single word, he simply listened.
“We'll get engaged in the spring, and we'll get married as soon as we graduate. We'll have children right away too.”
Iwon's gaze, reflected in the cold windowpane, silently demanded an answer.
What am I supposed to say...
Swallowing a sigh, Seonwoo parted his lips—
Then suddenly realized something.
He was much calmer than he'd expected.
Even imagining Iwon getting married didn't hurt anymore.
He was... fine.
Was his heart, hardened by years of calluses, deceiving even him?
Or...
Could this finally be the end of the one-sided love that had only ever brought him pain?
Whatever the answer was, he felt relieved.
Not realizing it was the wrong answer, he replied,
“Congratulations.”
“Is that all?”
“What more is there to say? Heejun's a good person. You two suit each other.”
The calm response made Iwon's face crumple instantly.
Unable to contain his anger, he slammed his fist into the window.
Startled, Seonwoo turned around—
Only to have Iwon grab him so hard by the shoulders that he shoved him back against the glass.
Grinding his teeth, Iwon shook his head.
“See? This isn't right...”
“Ngh, Choi Iwon! That hurts...! Calm down!”
“Congratulations? You're congratulating me? You, Nam Seonwoo?”
“You're too worked up. Sto—!”
The instant Seonwoo knocked his arm away, Iwon seized him by the collar and yanked him forward.
The moment their lips met, Seonwoo's eyes flew wide open in shock.
Pinning down the struggling Seonwoo, Iwon bit at lips that stubbornly refused to part.
When Seonwoo finally weakened under the pressure of the pheromones, Iwon pulled back just enough to whisper,
“You're not supposed to react like this, Nam Seonwoo.”
“You love me.”
At those final words, Seonwoo threw a punch.
Leaving Iwon sprawled on the floor, he ran out of the room.
* * *
“...What are you doing here?”
He had no idea how he'd managed to hail a taxi.
When he arrived at his apartment building, Eun Hyeonchae looked up from the bench where he'd been sitting.
“You weren't answering your phone.... What happened to your lips?”
The light from the streetlamp illuminated Seonwoo's face.
Hyeonchae's eyes widened.
“No... your face... Senior, your eyes...”
Watching Hyeonchae's helpless hands and anxious expression, Seonwoo let out an exhausted sigh. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Go home. I'm not in the mood to keep you company today.”
He brushed past him.
Just as expected, Hyeonchae ignored him and followed.
“Senior. Were you crying? You're hurt.”
“......”
“Senior.”
“I said go.”
Nothing had been resolved.
His heart was still pounding as though he were back in that hotel room, while his mind refused to think.
His head, his mood, his entire body felt like a mess.
Worst of all, Hyeonchae had seen him like this.
The embarrassment alone made him want to disappear.
He didn't have the slightest room left to think about anyone else.
Even after being told to leave over and over, Hyeonchae slipped through the closing elevator doors and stepped inside.
Seonwoo didn't even have the energy to react.
He simply sighed.
“Ha...”
The uncontrolled pheromones still rippled through the elevator.
Even though it should have been unpleasant for another Alpha, Hyeonchae never released his own pheromones.
Instead, he kept speaking in an anxious voice.
“Senior... if there's anything I can do to help...”
“The best way to help is to quietly go home.”
Even after they reached Seonwoo's apartment and he unlocked the door, Hyeonchae continued following him.
The persistent footsteps finally snapped the last thread of Seonwoo's patience.
As he tried to slam the door shut, Hyeonchae caught it.
Seonwoo exploded.
“For God's sake! Just get lost!”
“...I can't leave you alone.”
“...Fuck.”
Unable to contain the emotions boiling inside him, Seonwoo grabbed Hyeonchae by the collar and dragged him inside.
He shoved him against the closed front door, pouring all the anger that had built up in the hotel room, during the taxi ride, and outside the apartment onto someone completely innocent.
“You don't know anything, so why do you keep talking? How exactly are you going to help? What can you possibly do?”
“Anything. If it'll make you feel better, Senior... anything.”
Looking at Hyeonchae answering so gently, Seonwoo suddenly saw himself reflected in him.
Had he looked this pathetic too?
When had Choi Iwon figured it out?
...And wasn't he no different from Iwon now?
Overwhelmed by disgust, Seonwoo bit his lip and slowly released Hyeonchae's collar.
“Sorry. ...Go home. I want to rest.”
He turned away.
Before he'd even taken a single step, Hyeonchae reached out and grabbed his arm.
“I like you.”
“......”
“I... like you so, so much, Senior. So...”
Seonwoo quietly looked down at the hand gripping his arm.
Then he slowly turned to face Hyeonchae.
The moment their eyes met—the same eyes that had watched him from the same place for months—
Seonwoo pulled him close and kissed him.
The lips he'd been biting ever since the taxi ride met Hyeonchae's, sending a dull ache through them.
But right now, the pain felt better.
Frowning faintly, Seonwoo skillfully parted Hyeonchae's lips.
His tongue slipped inside, gently coaxing Hyeonchae's stiff tongue loose before easily wrapping around it, sweeping and licking beneath it, across his teeth, and along the inside of his cheeks.
The soft, almost pained moan escaping Hyeonchae vibrated pleasantly against Seonwoo's tongue.
Licking Hyeonchae's soaked lower lip, Seonwoo finally pulled away.
“Is this your first kiss?”