[21 Lee Daeju: It’s so hot, save me.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Turn on the air conditioner, idiot.]
[21 Lee Daeju: It’s broken ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Shin Gi-hyeok can I come to your place?]
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: Nope. Omegas not allowed.]
[21 Lee Daeju: What a petty bastard.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Wanna come to our café? I’m working right now.]
[21 Lee Daeju: Nah, your café is way too loud.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Then just melt to death.]
[Lololol]
[Are you guys doing a comedy skit?]
A grin slowly spread across my lips.
I chatted with these bastards on KakaoTalk practically every single day. And I’d met Lee Daeju several times recently because of Do Jihoon’s birthday, and I even saw Kwon Jisoo briefly at the café every weekend. Even though it was vacation, the guys still felt as familiar as if I’d seen them just yesterday.
Still, it was a little disappointing that I hadn’t been able to meet Shin Gi-hyeok separately. Do Jihoon should at least get a reasonable amount of jealousy going. Why was he being so intensely territorial over a friend?
…But now that I thought about it, Ha Min-young was also Do Jihoon’s friend.
Yeah. Okay. That was definitely enough to piss someone off.
“No, wait, that’s different. That guy marked our Doji. Shin Gi-hyeok is literally just a friend.”
At the very least, Shin Gi-hyeok hadn’t tried to mark me. Thinking about it again made me annoyed all over. When I met Do Jihoon at his apartment later, I’d have to check properly whether he was firmly shutting Ha Min-young down.
[21 Lee Daeju: Yuriya Yuriya]
[21 Lee Daeju: The prettiest omega in the world, Yuriya]
[? What do you want]
[Why are you being like that ;; I’m sorry]
[21 Lee Daeju: Hey, what are you talking about? You know I love you, right?]
[???]
Did this bastard get heatstroke in the middle of summer or something? His sudden burst of aegyo gave me goosebumps.
[21 Lee Daeju: So can I come to your house?]
As expected.
Lee Daeju had an ulterior motive. A noble purpose: using Yeon Yuri to escape the suffocating midsummer heat.
[? Who are you? Do I know you?]
[21 Lee Daeju: Hey, don’t be like that.]
[21 Lee Daeju: I let you borrow my apartment before.]
[21 Lee Daeju: And you can’t even repay the favor like the grateful magpie]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Yeah, that works. Yuri’s house is big anyway, right?]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: This is exactly why you have a rich friend.]
[You assholes only treat me like I’m rich at times like this.]
Even though I cursed them out in the chat, inviting Lee Daeju over didn’t actually seem like a bad idea. There were plenty of empty rooms in the house anyway, and my sister and parents often came home late—or sometimes not at all.
Plus, I was bored.
The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. It might actually be fun to invite everyone over and hang out—like a full-on pajama party.
[Ok come over]
[21 Lee Daeju: ㅇㅇ Screenshot taken. No take-backs now.]
[You calculating bastard. I’m not taking it back anyway, so come if you’re coming.]
[Oh and Kwon Jisoo and Shin Gi-hyeok, you guys can come too if you want.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: ???]
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: Suddenly?]
[Yeah yeah yeah wait]
Ignoring the flood of question marks from my classmates, I began typing out a long invitation message.
[!!Party Invitation!!
You are invited to Yeon Yuri’s Pajama Party. There is no right to refuse. Just shut up and come.
Time: Until we’re dead tired
Place: Yeon Yuri’s house
Dress code: Pajamas (VERY IMPORTANT!!)
Anyone who doesn’t bring pajamas will be turned away at the door. Plan accordingly.]
[p.s. If you don’t come, next semester might become extremely difficult for you. Be warned.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Is this forced sales? Should I report you to the Consumer Complaint Center?]
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: I don’t have plans anyway, so I’ll come. Can I head over now?]
[21 Lee Daeju: lololol]
The reactions were extremely varied.
Feeling pleased, I told them they could come whenever they wanted today. Then I went downstairs to the kitchen and asked the housekeeper if she could prepare some side dishes. Thankfully, she said she could make a few before leaving work.
[21 Lee Daeju: Hyung, I’m heading over now.]
[Yeah, that title is extremely pleasing.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: I’m free today too. My shift ends soon, so I’ll message then.]
[Got it. What about Shin Gi-hyeok?]
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: Wait. I’ll come after I eat.]
[Are you a pig? Every time you chat you’re eating.]
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: Brutal. If you’re not buying me food then shut up.]
[Heh ok.]
Typing away, I dove back onto my bed.
It was seriously like cloud bread—soft as hell. I felt pleasantly drowsy.
“But why do I feel like something’s off?”
A chill ran down my spine.
It felt like I’d forgotten something.
What was it?
…….
“Holy shit!”
I’d forgotten to tell Do Jihoon!
Do Jihoon was probably expecting to see me soon. If I ended up hurting baby Jihoon’s feelings, that’d be a disaster.
Carefully, I sent him a KakaoTalk message.
[Doji-ya]
The reply came back instantly.
[♡My Doji♡: Hello]
[Lololol]
[Our pretty Doji listens so well.]
[♡My Doji♡: So what is it this time? You didn’t cause trouble, right?]
[What trouble, you jerk.]
[♡My Doji♡: Then what?]
[Ah, I don’t think I can come to the apartment today.]
The “1” beside the message disappeared.
But there was no reply.
For some reason, my hands started shaking. When this guy got sulky once, there was no dealing with him. Carefully, I sent another message.
[You know Lee Daeju, right? His air conditioner broke.]
[So we decided to gather everyone and have a party at my house.]
[So I’ll probably come by tomorrow or the day after.]
[♡My Doji♡: Okay. Got it.]
The reply was surprisingly calm.
At the very least, I’d been expecting something like: Do you have a brain? You said you were coming today. Who exactly is the liar here?
Instead, his response was flat.
[Uh… okay okay. Then I’ll message you when I’m heading back, baby.]
[♡My Doji♡: Sure. Just don’t drink too much.]
[Of course.]
[Love you. Ppyong]
[♡My Doji♡: Yeah, me too. See you later.]
And just like that, my KakaoTalk conversation with Do Jihoon ended.
But the strange feeling still hadn’t gone away.
It felt odd.
Along with a proud thought of wow, Doji has really matured, there was also a hollow emptiness lingering somewhere in my chest.
It was strange.
[Kim Bo-jin: Why? I’m meeting my boyfriend right now.]
A message from Kim Bo-jin cut straight through my bittersweet mood.
[You bastard. Another alpha?]
I felt wronged. This guy had known Yeon Yuri way longer than any alpha—how could his friend come second to some alpha boyfriend?
My chest felt strangely empty.
…Wait a second.
This hollow feeling felt familiar.
“Holy shit!”
Wasn’t this the exact same feeling I’d just had with Do Jihoon?
That empty, hollow sensation when Do Jihoon told me to go have fun without putting up any resistance.
I had felt hurt.
Because Do Jihoon let me go so easily without saying much.
“…Am I insane?”
[Kim Bo-jin: Why are you like that, Yuriya]
[Kim Bo-jin: We’ve known each other a long time ;; please let me go]
[Kim Bo-jin: Hyung needs an alpha by his side…….]
[Shut the hell up.]
[Kim Bo-jin: You’re all lovey-dovey with your alpha too.]
[Kim Bo-jin: You only contact me when you’re bored and then act all hurt, seriously.]
[??? Me??]
[Kim Bo-jin: Yes, you.]
That was news to me.
The fact that I’d apparently been acting like a couple-roach just like Kim Bo-jin—it was a secondary shock. I roughly wrapped up the conversation and collapsed onto my bed.
Wow.
I was actually feeling upset because Do Jihoon wasn’t being obsessive with me.
So this was reality.
They say you don’t notice your clothes getting wet in a light drizzle—before I realized it, I’d apparently grown used to clingy Do Jihoon.
I rolled around lamenting for quite a while.
Then—
[21 Lee Daeju: I’m here.]
A message from Lee Daeju popped up.
I quickly ran downstairs and opened the front door myself. Standing outside was Lee Daeju, red-faced and drenched in sweat.
I looked at him with sympathetic eyes and stepped aside.
“Dude. You look like a whole roasted barbecue pig right now.”
“I’ll overlook that comment since you’re letting me use your house.”
Panting heavily, he stumbled inside. Like someone seeing a foreign country for the first time, Lee Daeju turned his head left and right, marveling at everything.
“It’s hitting me again that you’re actually rich.”
“Yup~ My family’s loaded.”
“You lucky bastard.”
I guided Lee Daeju to a guest room on the second floor. The room had its own bathroom. After shoving the sweat-soaked guy into the bathroom, I told him to wash up and change into fresh clothes.
[21 Shin Gi-hyeok: I’m here.]
[21 Kwon Jisoo: Me too.]
[Ok coming wait]
I tossed some clothes for Lee Daeju in front of the bathroom and went back downstairs.
When I opened the door, I saw Kwon Jisoo and Shin Gi-hyeok—both sweating just as much as Lee Daeju.
“Wow. Is it really that hot?”
“Yeah. It feels especially bad this year.”
“Seriously. Our front door feels like a portal. The air temperature changes the moment you cross it.”
I led them inside and assigned Shin Gi-hyeok and Kwon Jisoo each a guest room on the second floor.
Just like Lee Daeju, they looked around in amazement, letting out exclamations one after another.
