“Me?”
Just like how someone can’t even scream when hit with a surprise attack, Ha-jin stared blankly, stunned. His brain lagged behind, too bewildered to process.
“Me? Liking you, sir?”
“Yup.”
In contrast, Cheon Tae-seong looked completely unbothered. Not even the slightest flicker of shame or hesitation crossed his face—as if he truly meant every word. That made it even more surreal for Ha-jin. From Tae-seong’s perspective, there wasn’t even a possibility that Ha-jin didn’t like him.
“Look at you right now. Eyes sparkling, heart pounding, right?”
My eyes are sparkling?
“…Hearts are supposed to beat. And right now, it’s just because I’m so shocked.”
Tae-seong leaned back in his chair again, folding his arms, a wry grin tugging at his lips.
“Oh, hearts are supposed to beat, huh?”
He was even relaxed about it.
Ha-jin rubbed his forehead, finding it hard to keep eye contact. Slowly, he replayed the conversation in his head. What were we even talking about before this? Oh—right, the umbrella. But how did we end up here? The jump in topic was massive.
“I’m only asking because it sounds like you’re jumping to conclusions… Why do you think I like you?”
“Because you do like me. So why not just admit it? If I had to name a reason…”
Tae-seong suddenly stood and, in one stride, came right up beside Ha-jin.
“That’s for you to explain, Lee Ha-jin.”
He trapped Ha-jin between his arms, hands braced on the chair and table like iron bars. Ha-jin flinched, leaning back.
“Huh? So why do you like me?”
He was so unapologetically forward that it threw Ha-jin off. It felt like when Kwak Mari would suddenly hit him with a “You sure about that?”—it always made him second-guess everything.
“You’re not denying it.”
Tae-seong lowered his head, inching closer to Ha-jin, who kept leaning further back to avoid him. In doing so, he had to grip the table for balance.
“…No, it’s not that. I think your judgment is clouded by your pheromones, sir.”
“I feel fine.”
Their noses brushed. Ha-jin finally couldn’t take it anymore and shut his eyes tight. Just like Tae-seong said, his heart started hammering away. His ears filled with a drumbeat, his breath caught in his throat.
“Wanna find out if you like me or not? I’ll show you.”
At that whisper, Ha-jin tensed up so hard his shoulders ached. Then the chair beneath him slipped with a skrrrk, tipping back sharply.
“Ugh!”
“Agh!”
Tae-seong caught Ha-jin’s shoulder and yanked the chair out of the way, toppling it with a loud crash as the two of them fell beneath the table. Thankfully, he’d caught Ha-jin in time, so the impact wasn’t too bad—but at some point, Ha-jin had wrapped his arms around Tae-seong’s neck without realizing it.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Ha-jin pulled back and tried to sit up. But Tae-seong pushed down on his shoulders with both hands.
The pale skin of Ha-jin’s neck flushed crimson, blooming like a flower. The collar of his T-shirt had slipped, revealing the delicate curve of his collarbone—and from there rose a scent that made Tae-seong’s chest clench. Ha-jin’s round, damp eyes fluttered like petals.
“Ha…”
Tae-seong furrowed one eye and shook his head once, as if to clear it. With every thump of Ha-jin’s heart under his palm, it felt like his own pheromones were pouring out wildly.
“W-Why? It’s not even your rut, sir…”
Ha-jin’s eyes widened. His voice trembled.
“Try not to crack your skull this time, yeah?”
Tae-seong buried his nose into the crook of Ha-jin’s neck. The sharp bridge of his nose traced along the line of skin, making Ha-jin’s entire body tingle. When he turned his head to escape the warm, damp breath, Tae-seong responded by biting gently at the soft flesh, visibly displeased.
“Ugh, w-what… ngh—! What are you doing?”
Trying to push him away was a mistake. Tae-seong grabbed both of Ha-jin’s wrists and pinned them firmly above his head. His T-shirt rode up, exposing his pale stomach. The sudden chill made his fine hairs stand on end. Ha-jin shuddered.
Tae-seong tilted his head. His intense eyes trailed from Ha-jin’s forehead to his eyes, down his nose, and finally stopped at his lips.
“You smell good, Ha-jin.”
Ha-jin shook his head, refusing to believe it.
“Like an Omega. Well, you are an Omega, after all.”
Tae-seong grinned like he’d just realized something profound.
“You’re drunk, aren’t you?”
“Me? What, did you release your pheromones or something?”
He leaned in again, his eyelashes brushing Ha-jin’s cheek—way too close.
Holy shit. Ha-jin panicked and tried to turn his body—
Smack. Tae-seong’s lips landed squarely on Ha-jin’s cheek. It clearly wasn’t his target—Ha-jin had turned his head at the last second. Tae-seong’s brow twitched, and then he bared his teeth and bit that soft, rice cake-like cheek hard.
“Ah! That hurts…”
Then, with a slow, deliberate lick, his tongue slid over Ha-jin’s cheek. As if coaxing and tempting him, the kisses that followed were small and tender, almost pleading. When he inhaled deeply near Ha-jin’s skin like he was searching for something, Ha-jin’s body jolted.
“You booked a pheromone test?”
“Yes, mmph!”
He responded to the honest answer with a kiss. Swallowing Ha-jin’s lips in one motion, Tae-seong shoved his tongue inside. The heat and softness overwhelmed him—Ha-jin couldn’t think.
“Hhhng!”
Tae-seong gently played with Ha-jin’s frozen tongue, coaxing it forward, then sucked hard. Every time their tongues moved, Ha-jin’s lower belly throbbed. His fingers and toes clenched.
The dizziness grew. When he closed his eyes, it felt like stars were bursting behind them. The wet, obscene sounds made his ears burn. The hands that had pinned Ha-jin’s wrists now cupped his face. He didn’t even realize he was clutching Tae-seong’s shoulders.
His whole body trembled. It was overpowering—utterly unavoidable. It felt like he’d been fed chocolate—sticky, sweet, and impossible to spit out.
The Alpha’s pheromones delivered through saliva were something else entirely. Ha-jin, without realizing it, wrapped his arms around Tae-seong’s overheated body and, in a daze, thought—Is this kind of pheromone always this different? The texture, the scent, the heat… everything was different.
“Haah…”
After gorging himself on Ha-jin’s lips, Tae-seong finally pulled back slowly. His brown eyes glowed with heat, and his lips were glossy with saliva. Ha-jin, dazed and breathless, instinctively licked his own lips.
“You’re driving me crazy. You keep…”
Tae-seong buried his face back into Ha-jin’s neck. His deep breath scattered across Ha-jin’s skin. He could see Ha-jin’s chest heaving with each breath. Even his panting smelled sweet. Was this arousal only one-sided? Tae-seong wasn’t sure.
It had to be the aftermath of the imprint. He knew that—but he couldn’t stop his body from reacting. It was uncomfortable yet strangely welcome. How could he possibly explain this to someone else?
“Ha-jin. Want me to check if your pheromones are coming out?”
Tae-seong thought he was being as tactful as he could. As expected, the soft muscles of Ha-jin’s shoulder tensed hard.
“We can’t… do this.”
His blurred eyes snapped back into focus, and Ha-jin shook his head fiercely.
“You’re not thinking straight right now, sir.”
He patted Tae-seong’s shoulder, gripped it, even tried to push—but his trembling voice betrayed him.
“If you keep this up, I won’t be able to keep working with you.”
“…Work.”
It was a solid word, the only thing with structure in a moment where everything else had melted. Tae-seong froze at that. Slowly, he lifted himself off Ha-jin, pulling away from his chest.
With his shirt hanging loosely open and his gaze still heated, Tae-seong looked down at him.
“Ha-jin.”
Ha-jin, lying beneath him, stirred and pushed himself up. He rubbed his face with both hands, his fingers flushed bright red. Through the gaps in his hands, his face was clearly flustered.
“…Ha-jin.”
Even when Tae-seong called again, Ha-jin couldn’t answer for a while. He was completely dazed.
How did this happen again?
For the second day in a row, he’d failed to push Tae-seong away. They’d kissed, exchanged saliva. He’d had the strength, the skills to stop it—so why did he become powerless under him?
The overwhelming sensations of sexual desire he was feeling for the first time in his life shook him to the core. The sweetness of Tae-seong’s pheromones, the way his body responded to the pleasure—was it all because his body had changed?
Or—
“You like me, don’t you?”
Like him? Could that be true? No way. All kinds of thoughts swirled in Ha-jin’s head.
His eyes quivered with shock.
