It felt incredibly refreshing. It couldn’t have felt better.
“This feels kind of good…”
“It’s… it’s. It’s something, right?”
“Yeah. A bit. A bit. A lot. A bit. It is.”
The two of them were so aware of each other that anyone watching would have felt the awkwardness as they avoided eye contact and crossed their legs uncomfortably.
Somehow their breathing seemed more audible, they seemed to smell nice, their skin looked better, their eyelashes seemed longer…
After awkwardly clearing their throats, they went home.
***
Saebyeok, feeling good for once, thought he should make the most of it and studied like crazy. He watched online lectures, remade his error note, and prepared for performance assessments.
Tomorrow he would have to soak in medication again, but today was today.
Saebyeok moved as quickly as if his hands had motors attached.
Today, studying went exceptionally well. Even just glancing through materials, everything soaked into his brain perfectly.
***
“Haaa…”
Gong Pyeonghwa was suffering.
He tried to sleep but couldn’t.
Or more precisely, his body was dying to sleep, but his mind wouldn’t allow it. The moment they exchanged pheromones on the rooftop kept replaying, rewinding, and playing again in slow motion.
Gong Pyeonghwa eventually rummaged through the kitchen refrigerator at 4 AM and buried his nose in apple mangoes and strawberries, known for their high sugar content even in winter, sniffing them.
‘This is somewhat similar to Shin Saebyeok’s pheromones, right?’
Gong Pyeonghwa felt slightly mortified, or rather, a bit pathetic, but he couldn’t help it because he kept thinking about Shin Saebyeok’s pheromones.
‘I need to get some sleep too.’
Gong Pyeonghwa, with his arms full of apple mangoes and strawberries, tiptoed back to his room.
Gong Pyeonghwa’s small dream of getting a good night’s sleep with fragrant natural air fresheners was thwarted when it coincided perfectly with his mother’s jogging time, who was an early riser.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Th-thief!”
Gong Pyeonghwa was so startled he dropped the fruit he was holding. The apple mangoes and strawberries tumbled to the floor with a thud.
“Fruit thief!”
“No! It’s your son, Mom!”
When Gong Pyeonghwa explained, his mother, who had aged ten years from the shock, clutched her chest before raising her hand.
“The fruit thief was my son!”
Didn’t I tell you not to eat food that’s heavy on your stomach before bed! Waves crashed on Gong Pyeonghwa’s back as his mother slapped him repeatedly in the early dawn.
“Ahh! It hurts! It hurts! It hurtssss!”
He hadn’t planned to eat them, but he couldn’t tell her he’d stolen the fruit to use as a substitute for Shin Saebyeok’s pheromones, so he decided to just pretend he’d been the embodiment of gluttony.
“I was hungry and couldn’t sleep, what was I supposed to do!”
Between his mother’s back slaps and the sleep that had been coming now completely gone, Gong Pyeonghwa had to stay up all night.
The next day, Shin Saebyeok seen in the classroom was glowing as if he’d applied oil to his skin, while Gong Pyeonghwa was dry and withered with dark circles under his eyes.
That day, ridiculous rumors circulated in the class that the black magician Shin Saebyeok had placed a curse on Gong Pyeonghwa and sucked out his vitality.
Gong Pyeonghwa felt strange whenever he saw the back of Shin Saebyeok’s head, as it reminded him of yesterday’s pheromones.
He wanted to ask if the pheromone shower had been effective and if Saebyeok was experiencing any withdrawal symptoms like he was, but having left his phone at home in his rush to get to school, Gong Pyeonghwa just stared at the back of Shin Saebyeok’s head until lunchtime before getting up.
After staring at Saebyeok’s head for four hours, as soon as the bell rang for lunch, Gong Pyeonghwa jumped up from his seat, ready to run to the rooftop.
“Hey, aren’t you eating?”
“Not hungry.”
“But it’s spaghetti.”
“It’s spaghetti?”
Ah, was today no-leftover day? Suddenly, he started salivating.
“Then I’ll go to the bathroom first and eat after. Get mine for me too.”
“Come back late.”
“Why?”
“If they call and you’re not there, your portion doubles.”
“You really are a genius, aren’t you?”
Leaving the genius Seonwoo Jeong behind, Gong Pyeonghwa anxiously shook his legs as he went up to the rooftop.
“Is this withdrawal from Shin Saebyeok’s pheromones?”
He wanted to fill his mouth with sweet and tangy strawberries.
“Me? What?”
“Ah! You startled me. Make some noise, some noise.”
“I did say ‘ha’ when I came up…”
Lost in thoughts about strawberries, Gong Pyeonghwa poked at Saebyeok irritably.
Though it was his own proposal, Gong Pyeonghwa was planning to say that the pheromone shower seemed a bit dangerous, that it seemed like something that should be done between alphas and omegas who love each other, and suggest they stop the experiment.
“I didn’t take my medication today, but I can’t feel any other pheromones, and it doesn’t seem like I can feel my own pheromones either. It feels so good! My head is so clear! I feel like I could fly!”
“Oh… okay. Let’s start today’s session.”
Ah, darn it.
▶▶▶
“So then your bodies got used to the pheromone showers, and one day something suddenly went wrong and a heat cycle burst out, and you had no choice but to have sex, and your physical relationship eventually turned into love, and that’s how you started dating!”
“What are you talking about, you indecent bastard.”
Gong Pyeonghwa grimaced.
“We just naturally started dating. Naturally. After having a ‘something’ relationship for about six months, we realized it wasn’t much different from actually dating. Well, isn’t that how everyone dates?”
There wasn’t any dramatic incident or catalyst, but, well, isn’t that how everyone does it? Everyone nodded at Gong Pyeonghwa’s question.
It was normal to date with a decent amount of mutual interest, shared time, and reading the mood—cases with grand narratives and episodes were actually rarer.
“Do we need to have some incident to start dating? Can’t we just meet normally, get married normally, and be excessively happy?”
“Ah…”
The drama-loving classmate sighed dejectedly.
“But since you’re an alpha and an omega, I thought there would be something. I guess it was just… ordinary. Like betas.”
“Completely ordinary. We spent our time like proper students, going on library dates and such.”
Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok were born as ordinary chaebol sons, manifested as an ordinary alpha and an ordinary omega, ordinarily hated each other at first, and then ordinarily fell in love.
It might not seem that way to others, but to Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok, it was an ordinary love no matter what anyone said.
“Wait, then why did you hide it? I mean, I get that you’re both guys dating, and a male omega and all that, but I don’t see why you needed to pretend to be enemies.”
“There’s a reason. A complete reason.”
“Right. A complete reason.”
They say couples grow to resemble each other. The two who had constantly bickered throughout their school days, like polar opposites, now moved as if they were one body, as if they had never been at odds.
◀◀◀
That’s how it happened after continuing the pheromone showers throughout winter break for strategic reasons.
During winter vacation, there weren’t many supplementary classes, making it difficult to meet. But it also seemed wrong to tell Saebyeok to rely solely on medication without pheromone showers during the break, so they made sure to meet at least once a day throughout the vacation.
To avoid drivers or secretaries potentially reporting back to their parents about their open meetings, they met secretly at the city library like a rendezvous in a spy movie, exchanging pheromones.
It seemed heartless to just exchange pheromones and part ways after going through the trouble of meeting, so they would share a meal or watch a movie. With some level of mutual attraction already present, it was the natural progression for a spark to ignite.
So if they had to put a name to this relationship…
“Hey, are we, are we dating?”
“Umm… it seems like it, right?”
“Then since I raised the question today, let’s count today as day one.”
“Okay.”
The term “lovers” seemed appropriate.
In later years, whenever Gong Pyeonghwa drank, he would berate himself for setting the anniversary date so rudely.
Near the end of winter break, on a day in February when they were 18, they officially became a couple.
“Actually, I’m only telling you this now… never mind.”
“What is it? You’re making me curious.”
“No, it’s nothing. We just started dating, and it might turn you off so much that you’ll want to break up. Forget it…”
Whatever he was trying to say, Saebyeok sometimes wondered what was going on in Gong Pyeonghwa’s head.
“There are two ways to irritate a person, one is…”
“Promise you won’t break up with me.”
“What are you… fine. I won’t break up with you.”
“Even if you’re turned off, don’t show it.”
“Got it.”
After linking pinky fingers and swearing to the heavens, they promised repeatedly. At this point, it would be strange not to be turned off, but strangely enough, Saebyeok found it more cute and intriguing than off-putting.
“Actually, I… nah, never mind.”
Cuteness canceled. Now Saebyeok was just a little annoyed and curious.
“Let’s reconsider our relationship.”
“I’ve been… you know… thinking about you at night since before we started dating.”
It was a shocking confession, but not grounds for breaking up. Actually, it was kind of cute…
“Now that we’re dating, I’ll do it without feeling guilty.”
Maybe it was a little off-putting.
“…Okay.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t a disqualifying issue. It’s natural for a man, isn’t it?
“Have you ever done it thinking of me?”
“…Yeah.”
“Good.”
What’s so good about it? Saebyeok’s face flushed as he remembered the thoughts he’d had in secret.
“I’m really serious about you, you know.”
“And?”
“I was… going to have a completely public relationship. Why hide when you’re in love, right!”
That was a bit… Saebyeok couldn’t bring himself to match Gong Pyeonghwa’s romanticism.
“But! I really love you, you know? Now if it’s not with you! I, I just can’t!”
“Could you speak a little quieter?”
Saebyeok was flustered and deeply embarrassed, but strangely, the corners of his mouth and his cheekbones lifted.
“I’ve even made marriage plans with you! I’m going to prepare from now and confess on our 1000th day anniversary!”
“That much…”
Marriage. Just imagining it made his head spin. It should have been burdensome, but strangely it wasn’t. It was just a feeling of… fullness. The corners of his mouth kept trying to curl up.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
