#81
After sending Idam to the bedroom, Taemin entered the study. He sat down in the chair, breathing heavily. Hurriedly picking up the pad on the desk, he checked the document his grandfather had sent again.
– Recovery from rejection syndrome doesn’t happen overnight, but gradually.
– When entering the recovery phase, even when exposed to omega pheromones, temporary symptoms like shortness of breath and fever don’t appear.
– Physical therapy with a compatible omega takes an average of 3-6 months for complete recovery.
It had only been about two months since he met Idam. The improvement symptoms had occurred earlier than the known average period. Did he bite and suck too often because the scent was good?
Although he should be clearly happy that he was becoming a normal alpha now, he didn’t know why his heart felt so heavy. No, rather, he felt unpleasant.
“Ha… Shit.”
Cursing, Taemin brushed up his bangs and looked out the window. On the beach in front of the sea, he could see the female omega he had just encountered. She wasn’t alone, but with other employees. Taemin’s eyes hardened coldly, and then, as if having a seizure, he rushed out of the villa towards the woman.
He wanted to check once more. Whether it was really okay to be exposed to another omega’s pheromones. Or not.
* * *
“Sujeong. Why did you do that earlier? I told you to control your pheromones well in front of the CEO.”
“I’m sorry. I was too nervous. I’m sorry. I really don’t know why I did that myself.”
“You shouldn’t stay at the villa from now on. Just help out at other facilities.”
“Yes…”
The omega named Sujeong was shrinking her shoulders as if she had become a criminal. Just as another employee was about to nag, they spotted Taemin approaching behind Sujeong.
“Gasp, CEO.”
“What?”
All the employees were startled and bowed to Taemin. But Taemin ignored them all and glared at Sujeong. She had her head bowed like salted cabbage, thoroughly cowed.
“Let out your pheromones.”
“Pardon?”
Sujeong raised her head with bewildered eyes. She had expected to be scolded for carelessly opening her pheromones like the other employees, but this was an unexpected proposition. However, having been thoroughly scolded by other employees over this issue, she hesitated, looking around nervously. Feeling increasingly impatient, Taemin issued the order once more.
“There’s something I want to check, so hurry up.”
“Ah… Yes… Yes…”
Sujeong was extremely flustered, but fearing worse consequences if she hesitated, she slowly opened her pheromones. Taemin felt a sweet scent different from Idam’s. Though both were spring-like, this one felt like facing despair.
“Ugh!”
Soon, Taemin covered his mouth. He felt disgusted and nauseous at the same time.
“Sujeong, stop!”
An alpha among the employees urged her. Sujeong also hurriedly contained her pheromones. Feeling they were in trouble, the employees quickly asked Sujeong to go inside the villa, then anxiously checked Taemin’s complexion and asked for forgiveness.
Although he hadn’t fully recovered from the pain, his expression became fresh and his lips curled up.
“Hahaha!”
In his blue eyes laughing heartily, there lurked a deformed madness.
“No, I’m fine now. Everyone, go back to what you were doing.”
He headed towards where Idam was with relaxed movements. Now that he had confirmed that he wasn’t fully cured yet, he was elated. He still had a reason to keep Idam by his side. However, this situation wasn’t entirely good.
According to the document he had seen in the study earlier, rejection syndrome recovers gradually. Although the symptoms had returned just now, he had been fine earlier.
‘When you fully recover, I’ll have that omega dealt with along with Hyungmin.’
His grandfather’s voice echoed coldly in his ears.
It was troublesome. He still wanted to keep Yeo Idam in his possession and enjoy him. But he couldn’t stay away from that soft and fragrant thing to slow down recovery. After pondering for a moment, he decided to hide this fact of improvement for a while. He might get tired of Yeo Idam in the meantime.
As he approached the villa, Idam was just opening the front door and coming out. His orange-brown hair shining in the sunlight looked very bright. His kind eyes looking at him were like luminous beads.
“Oh? CEO. Are you done with work?”
“Of course. But didn’t we agree to call each other ‘honey’ again? Did you forget?”
Feeling unnecessarily hurt, Taemin asked.
“Ah… Yes… Honey.”
Idam answered, shaking his large eyes vigorously. The blush that bloomed on his fair cheeks also felt cute.
“That’s right. Call me that from now on. It sounds nice. But honey, why did you come out?”
Taemin was now thinking of having sex with Idam all day.
“I haven’t properly looked around this island yet.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s so pretty here, I’m curious and want to look around.”
Well, he had lured him here saying the sea was beautiful, but then kept him confined in the villa, so he must have felt stifled. Taemin held out his hand.
“Then shall we take a walk together?”
“Yes!”
Idam quickly took Taemin’s hand. A fragrant pheromone was felt strongly from Idam. It was a fairy-like scent of a different class from that female omega he had just encountered. Much sweeter, softer, and pleasant. Yes… It would be troublesome if this rejection syndrome improved yet. He wanted to absolutely feel only Idam’s pheromones like this for a little longer.
“Ah.”
It was at that moment. Taemin felt an intense dizziness. It was a different kind of heat, not because of the woman named Sujeong. He tried to ignore his body’s voice and pretended nothing was wrong.
“Honey, are you sick?”
But Idam seemed to have noticed.
“No, no.”
“You look pale, shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”
Idam tilted his head with a worried expression and continued.
“Ah, but is there a hospital on this island?”
“There’s no hospital, but there’s a personal doctor on standby at all times. If you feel unwell, you can call them. But I’m fine, so don’t worry. Shall we go?”
“Yes. Please tell me if you feel unwell while walking.”
“Alright.”
Taemin felt intense elation from Idam caring for him.
* * *
“Wow! It’s really beautiful!”
The two, holding hands tightly, walked along the beach and entered the forest. Then they arrived at a pavilion with a beautiful traditional Korean roof. There were flower beds with various blooming flowers and a pond around it. It felt like encountering a page from a fairy tale book. Thanks to this, Idam’s eyes sparkled like jewels.
“There doesn’t seem to be an ugly place here!”
“I think so too.”
Taemin answered like this, thinking he should humor Idam, but in fact, he had never thought this pavilion was beautiful.
Idam kept looking at the pavilion. His slender legs somehow looked tired.
“Shall we sit down for a moment?”
“Yes!”
Idam approached the pavilion as if he had been waiting. Even so, he gripped Taemin’s hand tightly. Taemin also liked this touch of Idam and held on tight.
The two entered the pavilion and sat in a suitable place. Taemin sat cross-legged, and Idam sat with his knees up, feeling the blowing wind.
“There’s the sea right in front, isn’t there?”
Idam spoke, taking in the spread-out sea with his eyes.
“Yes. The scenery is good. That’s why I often spent time here alone.”
“Don’t you feel lonely when you’re alone?”
“Well, maybe because I’ve been troubled by people a lot?”
“I see…”
Idam always felt empty when alone, so he envied Taemin’s nonchalance. And wondering if there was anything else to talk about, he looked around intently.
“Oh?”
His large eyes landed on the left pillar of the pavilion. More precisely, on the letters engraved there.
– Taemin, happy birthday.
It was also beautiful calligraphy, as if left by a calligrapher.
“What’s this? Did someone carve it with a knife?”
“Ah… Yes… My grandfather did.”
“What? Your grandfather?”
“Yes, when I was eight years old, I came to this island, and it happened to be my birthday, so we had a party here at the pavilion with my family. At that time, my grandfather, who had drunk a lot of wine, engraved it with the knife he was carrying.”
An ordinary person wouldn’t easily possess a knife. He realized that his grandfather must also be an extraordinary person. He was momentarily taken aback but hid his reaction and continued to look at the engraved letters.
“Ah… There’s a year and date below the congratulatory message. Gasp.”
Idam’s expression became startled.
“What is it?”
“Ah… No… Then, you were eight years old at this time, honey?”
“Yes.”
“Ah… You’re older than I thought. Honey, you really look young for your age.”
“Thank you.”
Taemin smiled, looking at the downy Idam. He knows it too. If he had had a child at a young age due to an accident, he would have a son about Idam’s age by now.
When he first proposed a fake marriage to Idam, he said Idam’s age was suitable for a marriage partner, but in fact, it wasn’t. He preferred those closer to his own age, including the alphas he had dealt with so far.
If he had to get married, this omega wasn’t suitable as a bride. So he thought the feeling now arising in his chest was just a light one.
Just because he’s sweet, pretty, and soft. But contrary to these thoughts, a dirty desire was blooming in his instincts. If put nicely, eternal possession. To put it intuitively, strange creation.
“Honey, your birthday is on Christmas Eve?”
“Yes…”
Somehow, he ended up revealing his birthday to Idam. It felt like he had done something unnecessary, given the uncertain situation of whether they would be together until the end of the year. Rather, he should focus on this fairy’s birthday, which was just around the corner.
This fairy still doesn’t know that he knows his birthday. So he was thinking of giving him a surprise event.
“Since my birthday is in winter, I like it when it snows. So when I was young, I often went to sledding places.”
In fact, Taemin hates snow the most. Traffic becomes inconvenient, and seeing the dirty streets when it melts irritates him. But he was lying to naturally uncover Idam’s preferences.
“But now I prefer to spend it quietly. How about you?”
“Me?”
“Yes. If it were your birthday, what would you like to do?”
“I… Um…”
Idam’s bead-like eyes moved slowly. He hesitated, seemingly finding it difficult to speak. Feeling slightly impatient, Taemin changed the question.
“Or what have you done on your birthdays so far?”
“I ate the cake Hayun made.”
“What?”
Taemin’s voice suddenly sharpened.
“That bastard… I mean, Jang Hayun made you cakes too?”
“Yes, I received them occasionally, and they were really delicious.”
“……”
Taemin was troubled. He was only good at knife skills but had no talent for cooking. Especially desserts that only babies eat, he never even touched them and had no interest. He never thought there would come a situation where he’d have to make a cake. But what can he do? If this fairy wants it, he has to do it.
“And what else did you do?”
Taemin added more questions for a slightly more perfect birthday party plan.
“Um, once I went to an amusement park with Hayun. I wanted to see fireworks. But it suddenly rained that day and was canceled. It was really disappointing.”
“You like fireworks?”
“Yes! They’re pretty, aren’t they!”
Taemin felt this was it. As a rough idea of what to do on Idam’s birthday formed in his head, he was about to smile triumphantly. He felt dizziness and heat rising again. He tried to maintain his expression to not show it. But Idam seemed to notice again, looking at Taemin with a worried face.
“Are you feeling sick again?”
Taemin answered that he was fine and held Idam’s hand tightly. At that moment, Taemin’s phone vibrated. He took out his phone with eyes as if greeting an unwelcome guest. A message had arrived from Im Hoyoung.
Ha… Crazy. Taemin frowned.
“Excuse me for a moment. I’ll make a phone call and come back.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back.”
After asking Idam for understanding, he left the pavilion and called Im Hoyoung. After a brief connection tone, his voice was heard.
[Are you busy now? At the company?]
“No, I’m at Jihwado.”
[What? There? Why? Why did you go there alone without us?]
Im Hoyoung’s voice was full of disappointment.
“I don’t do that anymore. You guys can bite and suck each other as you please.”
[Ha. That’s too bad…]
“Do you, a father of two daughters, want to say such things?”
[Suddenly why are you acting like a model student? It doesn’t suit you.]
“Let’s hang up.”
[W-wait, Ji Taemin, I heard there’s a new rut suppressant out, want to try it?]
“What?”
[Your rut cycle is coming up, isn’t it?]
