“An oral promise is still a promise. A contract. You know? You know?”
“You know that contracts made by minors without consent from a legal guardian are invalid, right?”
“This is why smart guys are…”
▶▶▶
“Umm… Actually, I’m a beta, so honestly, I don’t know what weight an imprint carries. From what I’ve heard, it’s something that connects you to your partner until death, so they call it the most romantic trap in the world.”
You seem to know a thing or two. Gong Pyeonghwa, an aspiring imprint dreamer willing to voluntarily fall into the most romantic trap in the world, held Saebyeok’s hand tightly.
“Being connected until death sounds honestly frightening to me. It might be reassuring, but people’s hearts can change in unpredictable ways. That’s why I’ve heard many alpha-omega couples these days don’t get imprinted. Since it’s such a serious matter, I think it would be best to get imprinted when you’re certain. I hope this helps, and here’s your requested song, ‘Colorist’ by Juhong.”
A rather sensual acoustic guitar sound played, followed by a youthful voice singing.
Imprinting is often portrayed as the ultimate form of love. Yet, Gong Pyeonghwa and Saebyeok still hadn’t imprinted on each other.
“Not being imprinted made our school days more thrilling.”
“The past really does get beautified, doesn’t it?”
Of course, not being imprinted meant they had to meet every day to maintain their daily pheromone shower routine, which was… nice? Still, in terms of convenience, wouldn’t imprinting have been better?
Gong Pyeonghwa called it thrilling, but there had been many times when he was nervous about getting caught.
Take the school trip, for instance…
◀◀◀
On the second day of the school trip, they had a tight schedule from morning.
After breakfast, they visited Cheonmachong and Cheomseongdae, then Gyerim, Seokbinggo, and Anapji, before having lunch nearby.
After visiting POSCO and King Munmu’s Underwater Tomb, the students returned to their lodgings and barely touched their dinner before collapsing.
It was free time, but students exhausted from the talent show and the tight schedule were all busy watching TV or using their phones in their rooms.
Gong Pyeonghwa anxiously shook his leg.
Yesterday, being the first day, they had arrived at school early, exchanged pheromones on the roof, and even kissed, but today? Today? Why was the schedule so damn tight?
In reality, most of what they did was just sitting still on the bus, but there wasn’t any private time to meet with Saebyeok.
What’s up?
♡Beloved Chicken♡
About to shower
(shy)
♡Beloved Chicken♡
;;;
How are we meeting later?
♡Beloved Chicken♡
I’ll just take medicine today. Rest.
Gong Pyeonghwa hated the fact that Saebyeok had to take suppressants even though he was right there. It made his teeth grind.
Sometimes before bed, he thought about just unilaterally imprinting on Saebyeok.
Fortunately, Gong Pyeonghwa didn’t possess the foolishness to actually carry out such thoughts.
“Ah, shit.”
“What?”
Seonwoo Jeong pressed down on Gong Pyeonghwa’s leg with an expressionless face.
“It’s annoying. What? Need to poop?”
With Seonwoo Jeong’s considerate comment, Gong Pyeonghwa’s brain started spinning rapidly.
Gong Pyeonghwa decided to take a direct approach.
He barged straight into Saebyeok’s lodging room.
Why exactly did his brain come up with this? It was a conclusion that required no thought.
Anyway, the sprawled students tilted their heads at the sudden appearance of Gong Pyeonghwa.
“What’s up?”
When one student asked on behalf of everyone, Gong Pyeonghwa pouted his lips and joked.
“Don’t even ask. The bathroom is completely full, and Seonwoo Jeong has been taking a dump for 30 minutes and still hasn’t come out. I want to shower.”
Everyone started whispering at Gong Pyeonghwa’s words.
“Constipation?”
“Must be constipation.”
“Is Seonwoo Jeong constipated?”
“We should feed him cabbage.”
Having caused a constipation controversy for Seonwoo Jeong, who had lived a life of smooth morning bowel movements for 18 years, Gong Pyeonghwa nonchalantly opened the bathroom door.
‘Oh? Not locking the door while showering? Safety negligence?’
Since he couldn’t hear the shower, it seemed like whoever was in there was almost done. Still, showering without locking the door? He thought he should say something about it, when someone shouted.
“Who is it? Someone’s showering!”
“Lucky for me. My arm is like this, so I can’t shower alone.”
Gong Pyeonghwa showed his arm in a cast.
“Oh, that’s right.”
Gong Pyeonghwa locked the bathroom door. He came face to face with Saebyeok, who was coming out shaking water from his hair.
“Hey, hey, you, why are you…”
“I came to shower.”
Before Saebyeok could ask why he came here instead of his own room, Gong Pyeonghwa grabbed Saebyeok’s hand.
“…Why are you holding my hand when I’m showering?”
“Can I say something pervy?”
“What’s that… what is it?”
Even when he said he was going to say something pervy, it was just cute now.
“Your lips look so tempting after you just showered…”
Okay, that was a bit pervy.
“I want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?”
“Just a kiss?”
“What’s the rating limit here? Can I use tongue?”
“Oh come on.”
Since their first kiss, they’d been mashing lips every day without fail. As teenagers in their prime, well… it couldn’t be helped!
Saebyeok thought he’d have to skip today, but coming into enemy territory just to rub lips? Newly impressed by Gong Pyeonghwa’s persistence, Saebyeok briefly pressed his lips against his and quickly pulled away.
“Get out quickly. The others will catch us.”
“They won’t. Pyeonghwa always has a plan.”
Saebyeok was afraid to even ask what the plan was. Seeing his confidence, there must be something, but he didn’t particularly want to know.
“Then I’ll go out first. See you tomorrow.”
Gong Pyeonghwa grabbed Saebyeok’s hand as he was about to leave.
“My arm is like this, so you need to help me shower.”
“Why are you releasing pheromones when asking for help with showering?”
“A pheromone shower is still a shower.”
Oh, really.
Saebyeok was disgusted but also felt there was no winning against this.
‘Why do I find him so cute now?’
Those cheap tricks were too endearing.
▶▶▶
“I vividly remember kissing until our lips were swollen back then. Hey, want to recreate it tonight? Hm?”
“All I remember is the constipation controversy about Jeong.”
“Want to hear something funny?”
Gong Pyeonghwa asked with a snicker. Not really expecting an answer, he continued right away.
“He receives cabbage juice or cabbage supplements every birthday and still doesn’t know the truth about the constipation incident. He just thinks people are concerned about his health.”
“Shouldn’t you tell him at this point?”
“I missed the timing once and then forgot about it.”
“…”
Marrying someone with the personality to make a friend constipated for the sake of kiss time, no, pheromone shower time… Saebyeok decided to stop thinking about it.
Well, it’s not like thinking would change anything, and he was tired too. His head kept nodding forward.
“Sleepy?”
Though he tried not to sleep, it must have shown, as Gong Pyeonghwa asked while driving.
“A little. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. Just a bit of play, and I’m tired.”
“You did move around a lot. Get some sleep.”
“How can I? The driver must be more tired.”
“What’s an alpha good for if not having a strong body? Just sleep.”
Gong Pyeonghwa playfully stroked Saebyeok’s cheek. With the gentle touch, like scratching a sleepy cat’s chin, his eyelids gradually closed.
A youthful voice flowed from the radio, and his body felt weary.
His husband’s pheromones and the soft humming were the world’s most perfect sleeping pill.
***
When Saebyeok opened his eyes again, it was midnight with the moon high in the sky.
He saw Gong Pyeonghwa on the phone with Butler Hwang.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, so cute.”
When Saebyeok responded with a mumble, still half-asleep, Gong Pyeonghwa raised his cheekbones and gushed again.
“What are you saying… But this isn’t a hotel?”
Saebyeok looked around, unconcerned. A quiet… sea? With almost no people around.
“Did we take a wrong turn and end up at the sea?”
“How does one take such a wrong turn…”
Still, seeing the open sea was nice. Unlike rivers or reservoirs, the horizon stretching all the way to the end gave an indescribable sense of refreshment.
“How do you feel about returning to the location of our official first date?”
Are we playing interview again?
“…Well, I just woke up so I’m a bit disoriented, but how should I put it, seeing the open sea makes me feel, this, this, refreshed? I guess?”
“Are you copying me right now?”
“Did I get caught?”
Saebyeok, with his poor quick thinking but good memory, almost caused controversy by plagiarizing the exact response in front of the original author, but soon reached an amicable settlement with one kiss.
“You know parodies and homages normally don’t get off easy, right? I’m letting it slide because you’re my husband.”
“I got it.”
They got out of the car and walked along the beach.
When they first came here, it unfortunately rained.
It had rained during their official chaotic first date.
◀◀◀
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
