“Luckily, it’s not bleeding.”
He lightly pressed on my bruised knee.
“…?”
He looked at my blank expression and said it didn’t seem like I was seriously hurt, then helped me to my feet. Grinning foolishly, I said to Do Jihoon,
“It’s my place….”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“But why are you here?”
“Took you long enough to ask.”
Do Jihoon said as he took off my coat. I stayed still and let his hands move. His touch was gentle, his pheromones warm.
“…You.”
But then he brushed his fingers through my hair and suddenly spoke in a cold voice.
“…You’re really trying your damn hardest to get yourself into a relationship, aren’t you.”
“Me…?”
There was no answer from Do Jihoon. His pheromones surged toward me aggressively. That reminded me of the time a few days ago when he’d practically drenched me in his pheromones. I flinched.
“….”
Do Jihoon frowned. At the same time, his pheromones softened. With a gentler motion, he roughly stroked my face.
“Ugh….”
“Stay still. You stink.”
“Hey…!”
Stink?! I glared up at him, eyes wide, and Do Jihoon broke into a wide, incredulous smile.
“And what are you glaring like that for? You have no conscience?”
He pinched my nose between his index and middle finger and shook it.
It felt unfair. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d gotten swept up in his temper without even knowing why, and after being hit with a flood of pheromones, I’d spent the entire day walking around campus on edge.
It hurt. Because I’d come to like Do Jihoon too much. Because it felt like he didn’t even think of me as a friend, while I was the only one getting attached.
After crying so much that my eyelids were swollen, tears started streaming down again.
“…You’re crying again.”
Do Jihoon muttered, sounding annoyed. I opened my mouth clumsily and said to him,
“You know… I like you.”
“…What?”
His pheromones wavered unstably. In a voice unlike his usual self, he even asked me to repeat it.
Encouraged, I continued.
“I really like you… but why are you always mad?”
“….”
“You have to tell me for me to know… When you get mad, I get kinda scared.”
“…Why? Why are you scared?”
Because if you hate me, my life might hit rock bottom.
Even drunk, I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud. I hesitated before voicing the second reason I was afraid of his anger.
“To me, you’re really precious… but to you, I feel like I’m just a rock lying around on the street….”
Do Jihoon was silent for a moment before speaking again.
“…What’s there to be scared of?”
“….”
“I’m your fiancé.”
“My fiancé?”
At my stupid echo, he met my eyes and answered me one by one.
“Yeah. Your alpha.”
“My alpha….”
“Yeah. You’re the one who keeps running your mouth about it.”
“Me…? When?”
“Whenever you get shitfaced… Forget it.”
Do Jihoon let out a quiet sigh. But strangely, the way he looked at me was so gentle. That steadied me.
I smiled brightly. My pheromones bubbled up and flowed toward him. Thank you. I like you. You’re a really good person. He stood there and accepted every bit of my pheromones without resisting.
“Wow. The bed’s nice!”
I flopped down onto the bed, immensely satisfied. Do Jihoon carefully sat on the edge and stroked my hair.
“You’re kind of like a damn dog.”
“You just swore at me!”
“Like a damn mutt.”
“You swore again….”
I closed my eyes as he kept stroking my hair. I felt warm and drowsy. I didn’t know if it was because of his pheromones or his touch.
“You’re really… a good guy.”
“Glad you finally realized it.”
Sleep washed over me. Just before drifting off, I lifted the corners of my lips in a smile and said to him,
“Jihoon….”
“What.”
“Don’t throw me away. Let’s be friends forever… okay…?”
At that, his hand abruptly stopped. I slipped into darkness.
***
“….”
I was a dog. Fuck.
Kneeling on the floor, I looked up at Do Jihoon sitting on the sofa. He was like a bomb on the verge of exploding.
“…But you were the one who lost your temper first….”
“So that means you go out, drink like that, and come back riding on someone else’s back?”
“….”
“And to the apartment we’re supposed to live in together, no less.”
Even if I had ten mouths, I’d have nothing to say. Just yesterday I’d definitely been the one angry at him.
The power dynamic flipped in an instant.
“I just won’t drink from now on….”
“Obviously.”
“Ah. Actually, maybe not quit completely—just one bottle at most—”
When I cautiously tried to negotiate, Do Jihoon glared at me fiercely.
“Do you not understand the situation right now?”
“…No, sir.”
I slowly lowered my resentful gaze. Fuck, ugh. I was an idiot who stepped up eagerly just to stack up bad karma.
Do Jihoon rolled his neck like he was already tired.
“That’s three debts now, Yuri. Is your dream to be a debtor? A lifelong borrower?”
Three? The first was when I got drunk the first time and caused a scene. The second was the price for asking him to hide our relationship. And the last was today’s mess.
But…
“Three?”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to say you don’t remember.”
“No… Isn’t it two? Our engagement already got exposed, so that one should be taken off the count—”
“Yuri. No refunds. The deadline’s already passed.”
He said it with a bright smile. I felt unfairly wronged and choked up, but I still had nothing to argue with.
But thinking about it, something felt off.
The first time I got drunk and made a scene with Do Jihoon, I’d even thrown up on his clothes and he’d taken me home, so if he looked at me like I was hopeless, I couldn’t complain.
But this time was different.
I hadn’t thrown up, and the one who carried me home was Ki Tae-young. If I owed anyone, it was Ki Tae-young, not Do Jihoon.
After reaching that conclusion, I straightened up a bit and looked at him more boldly.
“That’s a pretty murderous look.”
“No. Think about it. The day Kim Bo-jin called you over—that’s debt one. Hiding our engagement—that’s debt two. Up to there, fine, I admit it.”
“And?”
“But no matter how I think about it, I don’t owe you anything today. The one who brought me home was Tae-young sunbae, not you.”
The moment I finished saying that, I swear I experienced hell. Do Jihoon looked at me like a messenger from a burning inferno. Heat seemed to shimmer around him.
“…What now….”
“Do you remember yesterday?”
“Yes. I remember everything I said yesterday.”
“And you still don’t know what the problem is? With that goldfish brain of yours?”
The heat around him flared, then suddenly fizzled out. With a resigned expression, he smacked the top of my head a few times.
“Ah! Ow!”
“You’re seriously hopeless.”
“Ah! What did I do!”
“Such a hopeless omega.”
With that, he stood up. I carefully pushed myself off the floor. When he headed toward the entrance, I asked where he was going, and he said he was going home.
“Why?”
“Why? I need to bring my stuff.”
“Oh, right.”
“Yuri. Sometimes I genuinely worry about you.”
He lifted one corner of his lips, pretending to be concerned. He looked just like he always did. Only then did I realize his anger had finally subsided. I still didn’t know why he’d been mad in the first place, though.
Do Jihoon beckoned at me like he was calling a dog. Seeing that reminded me of what he’d muttered at me last night.
“Hey, you bastard. You called me a mutt yesterday, didn’t you?”
“…You really are hopeless.”
Do Jihoon sighed as he slipped on his shoes. I poked at him a few times. Like before, we bickered as we stopped by our respective homes to move our things.
