#51
If another guy had shown such a frustrating demeanor in front of him, he wouldn’t have associated with them at all. But with Eunsol, it made his heart ache.
“You’ve slept together, right?”
“W-what?”
Eunsol, who had been listening attentively to Kang Ye-ryeong’s words, opened his eyes wide, not knowing how to react. His long eyelashes trembled, as if reflecting his flustered state.
“I have an incredible sense for these things. I just said it earlier, didn’t I? Your skin looks different from before.”
Previously, Eunsol only looked young. His actual age was indeed young, but he had a shy, budding flower-like quality about him.
But at some point, a subtle atmosphere was added that strangely drew people’s gazes. When going around with Eunsol, alpha and beta men’s attention would focus on him, knowingly or unknowingly.
Eunsol seemed unaware of how he appeared in others’ eyes.
In truth, Eunsol didn’t have the kind of striking appearance that would immediately catch the eye of passersby. Rather, he had a pure and elegant impression that, once noticed, would continue to draw one’s gaze.
His pheromone scent wasn’t strong either, so he tended to have a faint presence if not specifically recognized. But from a certain day, color had been added to his previously all-white aura, as if he were exuding flower fragrance.
It wasn’t an intense red. Rather, it was like a faint sky-blue tinge when hit by sunlight. Like an early dawn flower bud that made one want to touch it just once.
“There’s nothing strange about a married couple sharing a bed.”
His white cheeks instantly turned red, as if flower dye had been dropped on them. Finding it quite lovely, Kang Ye-ryeong raised her hand to cup and caress Eunsol’s cheek.
The soft, squishy texture naturally brought a smile to her lips.
Enough to make her think that even if she were an alpha, she would want to keep someone like this by her side.
“Please take good care of our Hyun-oh.”
Kang Ye-ryeong held Eunsol’s hand firmly and made a sincere request.
When Hyun-oh was young, she was busy living her own life. By the time she realized it, Hyun-oh had already grown to the point where he no longer needed parental care.
She wasn’t trying to change her relationship with her son now. She just felt indebted because it seemed like Hyun-oh had grown up to be someone who couldn’t trust anyone around him because of her.
In that sense, Eunsol was a satisfying daughter-in-law to Kang Ye-ryeong.
Hyun-oh was surrounded by people wearing masks. The majority were those who coveted what he had rather than seeking him for himself.
But Eunsol wasn’t someone who had approached Hyun-oh, but someone Hyun-oh had decided to keep by his side. Regardless of how it began, Kang Ye-ryeong knew well that if Hyun-oh didn’t like Eunsol, he wouldn’t have chosen him even for the formal position of spouse.
Though he dealt with pretentious people and wore quite a good mask himself, Hyun-oh constitutionally didn’t keep such people close in his private life.
In that aspect, Kang Ye-ryeong thought her son resembled her. She too recoiled from pretentious people as if breaking out in hives.
“Even if he coldly pushes you away, I hope you’ll approach him first, Eunsol.”
Kang Ye-ryeong stroked Eunsol’s neatly arranged hair with the hand not holding his. Eunsol bit his lip. Having someone stroke his head was unfamiliar.
When he was very young, perhaps the omega father who gave birth to him might have caressed him with a kind and warm touch like Kang Ye-ryeong was doing now. It felt different from Ryu Jeong-woo’s touch.
Eunsol’s eyes began to redden. The blush that had dissolved into his cheeks was gradually forming in his eyes as well.
“I was never a good mother to him either. That’s why he doesn’t know how to give or receive love.”
Kang Ye-ryeong wiped Eunsol’s tear-filled eyes with her thumb. She kept foolishly dwelling on the regret that if she had occasionally caressed his small head affectionately when Hyun-oh was still young, like she was now doing with Eunsol, he might not have grown into a cold-blooded person who only knew work.
“But when Hyun-oh is with you, he acts just like a normal person.”
The day she met Eunsol’s stepmother and half-brother. Kang Ye-ryeong saw a new side of Hyun-oh.
From her perspective, Hyun-oh was clearly changing because of Eunsol. Even though the change was so subtle that neither he nor Eunsol, who was changing him, recognized it yet.
Perhaps that’s why dark clouds hung over Eunsol’s face. She could clearly imagine, without seeing it, how much Hyun-oh would have drawn a line with Eunsol.
“I suppose we should wrap up today’s shopping with something different.”
Kang Ye-ryeong held Eunsol’s hand and stood up. It seemed better to buy items one might wear in the evening after the sun had set, rather than outerwear today.
“…Yes.”
Eunsol wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and got up, feeling the warmth filling his palm.
His gloomy mood was dissipating like fog pushed away by the rising sun due to Kang Ye-ryeong’s comfort. As she said, all he had to do was continue approaching Hyun-oh.
After all, watching someone’s back was something Eunsol was very good at.
* * *
“…Is this the right way to wear it?”
Eunsol blushed as he looked in the mirror at the clothes that revealed his skin clearly. It was a garment made of white tulle and lace. The underwear felt more like it simply wrapped the important parts rather than covering them, and most notably, the straps extending below the underwear were unfamiliar.
Straps connected to knee-high stockings crossed his thighs and extended upward. The feeling against his index finger was so unfamiliar that the inside of his mouth went dry.
“Phew…”
Exhaling deeply like a student before a presentation, Eunsol stepped out of the dressing room with careful steps.
Today was a day when Hyun-oh had come home earlier than usual. His palms became sweaty at the faint sound of water from the bathroom. Eunsol sat on the edge of the bed and needlessly rubbed the sheet with his palm.
He clenched his fist with his gaze fixed on the bathroom from which Hyun-oh would soon emerge.
His heart beat rapidly, not knowing when the water sounds would stop. When the water finally ceased, Eunsol unconsciously held his breath and blinked rapidly.
Following the sound of the door opening, he caught the sound of light footsteps. It was the moment when the wrinkles in the sheet gripped by Eunsol’s hand became even more pronounced.
“…Hyun-oh.”
The moment their eyes met, Eunsol felt as if his entire body was bound by invisible ropes.
Hyun-oh had stopped at the boundary where different spaces connected and was quietly staring at Eunsol. Unlike Eunsol, whose eyelashes were fluttering, Hyun-oh captured his figure in his pupils without even blinking.
Eunsol thought his heart might leap out of his mouth at this rate.
He raised his right hand to rub his chest, which was throbbing with dull pain. This caused the precariously fastened ribbon to slip loose, revealing his fair skin entirely to Hyun-oh.
A heated gaze slowly and thoroughly scanned his slender neck and then his upper body, where the ribs were faintly visible.
The place where his darkened eyes stopped was the area wrapped in dainty ribbons and lace.
“…Ha.”
Hyun-oh let out a short, dry laugh as he ran his hand through his hair. The still-wet hair scattered between his fingers, momentarily cooling his heated body temperature.
His mind went blank for a moment. He didn’t even think about just going straight to bed and closing his eyes tonight.
Eunsol wouldn’t have worn such clothes on his own. Hyun-oh remembered receiving a report that Eunsol had met his mother today. They had roamed the department store, apparently.
He saw the thin shoulders twitch at the sound he made. The garment made of soft material slid down one shoulder.
The moment he saw the small hand frantically adjusting the falling clothes, Hyun-oh’s reason snapped completely.
* * *
“Hnngh…”
Eunsol tried to hold back, but the sobs welling up in his throat wouldn’t easily stop. It was especially so since all he could see was the sheet, soaked wet with his own tears.
“…You keep crying.”
Hyun-oh stopped moving and gripped Eunsol’s chin to turn his face. The small face was completely covered in tears. Both his eyes and his round nostrils were red, as if drops of red paint had been spilled on them.
His lips, which he seemed to have bitten, were also redder than usual, capturing Hyun-oh’s gaze.
Hyun-oh, who had impulsively lowered his head to kiss Eunsol, slowly detached his lips at the sight of the violently trembling black eyes.
It gave him a strange feeling to see Eunsol become more agitated by the ticklish kiss.
“If it’s difficult, we can stop.”
Hyun-oh deliberately maintained a calm voice. The heat consuming his body hadn’t subsided. Rather, it was flicking its bright red tongue as if to steal away Hyun-oh’s reason.
Unlike him, Eunsol was already exhausted, on the verge of fainting.
He didn’t want to satisfy just his own desires.
“I-I’m fine…”
However, Eunsol, despite his pale complexion that looked like he might faint at any moment, restrained Hyun-oh’s actions. He didn’t know when else he would be able to fully accept him if not now.
Even though it felt like he would fall down a cliff with no visible bottom if he moved just half a step back, Eunsol endured.
Hyun-oh’s gaze deepened. Unlike his usual predominantly white impression, Eunsol was now gradually being dyed in his color. That fact brought a stronger satisfaction than expected.
The statement that he would stop if it was difficult was actually a lie. It was merely a question asked as if to confirm what he knew—that Eunsol wouldn’t reject him.
His gaze, bubbling with heat, slowly swept over Eunsol as if appreciating a masterpiece.
It was the moment when Hyun-oh’s eyes sank even darker. An incredibly low voice emerged from between his well-formed lips.
“Alright, then.”
Hyun-oh continued the movement he had stopped. He couldn’t take his eyes off Eunsol, who was increasingly being dyed in his color. As if in a colorless world, only Eunsol contained color.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
