#22
“Ugh!”
Idam shrank his shoulders at Taemin’s kiss-like attack. His pheromone glands opened. A curse-like scent leaked out. Idam hastily leaned forward to avoid it. He quickly closed off his pheromones and waved his hands to disperse any remaining in the air. The unexpected lip attack from Taemin left him dazed.
“W-why are you suddenly doing this?”
He had almost exposed his pheromones directly to Taemin. Or they might have already been exposed. Taemin’s eyes had a strangely subdued look.
“There was some cream on your nape,” Taemin said.
“What? Really?”
Idam asked again, thinking it was an absurd statement. In contrast, Taemin nodded with a very calm expression.
“Yes, of course.”
“…”
Idam thought cream might get on the tip of one’s nose, but on the nape? There hadn’t been any situation where cream could have splattered that much. What was this alpha doing? Idam’s mind became even more confused. He was at risk of completely exposing his pheromones while caught up in Taemin’s unpredictable actions.
As Idam was stepping back cautiously to distance himself from Taemin, as if doing a tap dance…
BOOM! RUMBLE!
Thunder roared as if it would swallow the earth.
“Eek!”
Startled, Idam unconsciously stood on his tiptoes and wrapped his arms around Taemin’s neck. In the process, Idam’s lips pecked Taemin’s cheek. It was intense enough that the other might have perceived it as a kiss.
Idam pulled back in shock. What were his lips doing, rubbing against someone like that?
“Ah… I’m sorry… I was so surprised, I didn’t mean to…”
Normally, Idam was quite afraid of thunder. He was vulnerable to unpredictable fears, like in horror movies, and he had trauma. Even so, hugging Taemin and even kissing his cheek was crossing a line. His face turned red with embarrassment.
In contrast, Taemin stared at Idam without responding. His expression was close to emotionless, as if wearing a plaster mask.
He must be incredibly displeased. Well, that’s understandable.
“I’m really sorry. I won’t make such a mistake again.”
Feeling even more apologetic, Idam apologized to Taemin once more before heading to the table.
“I… I’ll clean this up now.”
He hurriedly picked up the empty cake plate and glass. The awkward atmosphere seemed to be dissipating a bit.
“We’ll take care of that.”
A female employee who had approached suddenly took the tray from Idam’s hands. With his hands now empty, Idam picked up the box that Secretary Kang had brought in earlier.
Taemin silently watched Idam’s every move, his gaze following him. Feeling burdened and chilled by that gaze, Idam cautiously spoke up.
“Do you have something you want to say?”
“Is it heavy? Should I carry it for you?”
Taemin’s voice was suddenly very affectionate, and his expression had softened. But there was still an ominous aura about him. It was as if a demon was pretending to be human.
“No, no. It’s light.”
Afraid of another awkward situation if he kept facing Taemin, Idam hurriedly headed to his bedroom with the box. It wasn’t heavy enough to need help carrying, so he moved even faster.
* * *
In his bedroom, Idam placed his mother’s photo frame on the dressing table and put the rest of the documents in the bottom drawer of the cabinet.
Looking at the clock, he saw it was past 10 PM. Time had flown by while having dinner and cake with Taemin. Feeling sleepy and tired, he thought he should lie down. After washing up and changing into pajamas, Idam was about to head to bed.
Whoosh!
The loud sound of rain hit his ears. Idam turned towards the window. He could see raindrops violently hitting the glass between the curtains. The window looked distorted, as if stained. It wasn’t ordinary rain. He could hear what sounded like distant thunder.
This reminded him of how he had just hugged Taemin and even kissed his cheek when startled by the thunder.
“Why did I do that…?”
Embarrassed, Idam touched his own cheek, not knowing what to do. He wasn’t the type to cling to others or engage in much physical contact. This was especially true after manifesting as an extremely heated omega and developing pheromone issues. He had been careful even about brushing against others… He vowed never to do something like that again.
RUMBLE!
As if the sky had read Idam’s mind, thunder roared loudly again. It sounded like a monster’s roar. Immediately after, he saw yellow lightning flash. Idam trembled, his hair standing on end. Gradually, pheromones began to leak from his body. Realizing this, he quickly contained them. At least he was alone now, thankfully.
The thunder didn’t stop. It kept coming. It seemed like quite a noisy spring rain. Idam got into bed and pulled the covers over his head. Just as his tension peaked, there was a knock at the door.
“Idam, are you asleep?”
Taemin’s voice came from beyond the door. Feeling slightly less tense, Idam poked his face out from under the covers.
“CEO? No, I’m not.”
Why did he suddenly come? Idam was puzzled but had some idea. Taemin hadn’t talked about their marriage arrangements during dinner or while drinking Americano. Perhaps he came to discuss that now. Thinking he couldn’t just keep lying down, Idam was about to sit up.
The door opened slightly, and Taemin appeared wearing snow-white pajamas. Though the pajamas were large, they couldn’t hide his characteristically broad shoulders and firm chest. As expected of an extremely dominant alpha, his body exuded a thick masculine scent. Idam, staring at him as if entranced, finished getting up from the bed.
He checked to see if any of his pheromones from earlier were still in the room. He couldn’t sense any, they must have dissipated quickly. Relieved, Idam relaxed and approached Taemin.
“CEO, what brings you here?”
“You left your phone on the sofa.”
Taemin handed the phone to Idam. He must have left it behind unknowingly while moving in a hurry earlier. It was still an unfamiliar new phone, and he had been too shocked by the cheek kiss incident with Taemin to pay attention.
“Idam, are you feeling unwell?”
Taemin asked, staring intently at Idam’s face.
“What? No, I’m fine.”
Idam was puzzled by this question. He touched his face, wondering if it was still red.
Just then, thunder roared loudly again.
“Ah!”
Startled again, Idam unconsciously hugged Taemin. This time, without standing on tiptoes, his face pressed against Taemin’s chest. Then, as if entranced, Taemin nuzzled his nose between Idam’s earlobes. Idam could vividly feel Taemin’s sculptured nose bridge and hot breath.
Momentarily frozen in fear, Idam suddenly came to his senses. He had just vowed never to do this again, so why was he doing it? Feeling foolish, Idam tried to quickly move away, but Taemin’s muscular arm was supporting his back, blocking him.
“Are you very scared now?”
“N-no, I’m not.”
Idam tried to hide his fear and maintain a calm expression. He thought it would look unseemly for a grown adult to be afraid of such things, and he needed to endure it since he was a real adult now.
“Really? Actually, I’m afraid of thunder.”
“What?”
Hadn’t Taemin not even flinched when watching horror movies? He seemed like someone who would enjoy thunder, not fear it.
“So, could you sleep with me tonight?”
“Sleep together?”
Idam’s pupils shook violently as if an earthquake had struck. He felt like he had just heard a forbidden word.
“I keep tossing and turning. I have an important meeting tomorrow, and it would be troublesome if I don’t get enough sleep.”
“Ah…”
It seemed he literally meant just sleeping. He’s more timid than he looks… Idam also knew that if you don’t sleep well before an important event, your condition the next day would be terrible. Above all, Idam was in no position to find anything Taemin ordered strange.
“Alright…”
As soon as Idam agreed, Taemin’s lips curled up.
“Then come to my bedroom.”
* * *
“How’s the pillow height? Is it okay?”
“Y-yes… It’s fine…”
Lying next to Taemin, Idam nodded awkwardly. Thankfully, the bed was wide enough that they weren’t touching, but it still felt strange, reminding him of their time together at the hotel. He thought about asking to sleep on the sofa separately but decided against it, thinking it might seem like he was making a fuss.
He thought the room was impressive even on a second visit. Unlike when he came during the day, the blinds were down on the windows, and it was quieter than the bedroom where Idam was staying. It seemed to be well soundproofed.
Of course, it wasn’t completely blocked, so he could still hear thunder, but it wasn’t very loud. It seemed fine for sleeping, so he didn’t understand why Taemin said he was scared.
Moreover, Taemin wasn’t trying to sleep right away but was staring intently at Idam. Feeling awkward, Idam fidgeted with his toes under the blanket.
“Idam, even your side profile is pretty.”
“What?”
Caught off guard by this unexpected compliment, Idam hastily touched his cheek. He often received compliments on his appearance, but hearing it from someone as beautiful as Taemin made him feel strangely good yet embarrassed at the same time.
“Th-thank you. You’re really handsome yourself, CEO.”
Feeling it would be rude to just accept the compliment, Idam returned it like a mirror. Taemin beamed with an eye smile.
“Thank you for the kind words.”
“Ah… It’s nothing.”
Not expecting to receive thanks in return, Idam felt his heart rate increasing and a fluttering sensation. Thinking he might not be able to sleep at this rate, he averted his gaze.
Just then…
RUMBLE!
Thunder struck again, as if hammering down. It must have been loud thunder, as it was quite audible even in the soundproofed bedroom. Before Idam could be startled, Taemin’s long arm reached out. And he quickly embraced Idam. As if he had been waiting for this moment.
