#5
“You are an omega, but…”
Maybe it was from crying too much, but I felt all my strength draining away. It was similar to the feeling of my entire body becoming mushy and losing its form. Just like a school playground that had become soft and soggy after being soaked in rain all night.
“I’m not, you know, so handsome that people can’t leave me alone or anything. I’ve never even been confessed to.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly while keeping the same smiling expression.
“Ah, really? I guess everyone around you was oblivious. Or maybe you put up an incredible shield.”
His expression was serious but the content was utterly frivolous. He must be someone with no talent for jokes. I burst into small laughter.
“See. You look much better when you smile. Don’t cling to some bastard who makes you cry all the time, meet someone who makes you laugh.”
“What are you saying…”
“If you don’t like being called pretty, should I say you’re handsome instead? Actually, to me you look more on the pretty side.”
“You’re the handsome one.”
I wasn’t just saying that to flatter him out of gratitude—it was real. No matter how I looked at him, he didn’t have ordinary features. Honestly, I’d believe it right away if someone said he was an actor, and I could accept it if they said he was a fashion model.
‘Fashion model.’
Come to think of it, I think Lee Chan said the person he was newly dating after breaking up with me was a fashion model. If he was dating them seriously, it wouldn’t just be momentary curiosity or impulse.
If they’re a model, they must be incredibly pretty or handsome. Maybe even beautiful enough to captivate the man in front of me.
Thinking that far made me depressed again. If I had more outstanding looks, wouldn’t Lee Chan have gotten tired of me? Instead of transferring right after breaking up this time too, wouldn’t he have quietly returned saying my side was still the best, acting like nothing happened?
“…Sniff.”
I know. This kind of love is stupid. Looking for reasons only within myself is also foolish.
Lee Chan isn’t Yoo Sanho, so it’s natural that his heart isn’t like mine.
“Uh oh…”
When I started dropping tears again, the man grabbed my face with a flustered expression.
“Why are you crying again? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I misspoke. Sometimes my words come out a bit carelessly…”
“No, it’s not that.”
I replied while sobbing. Even though I’d cried all day, it was truly amazing that there was still something left in my tear ducts.
“I’m, sniff, just being pathetic.”
He started moving his hands busily again. Each time he wiped my cheeks and around my eyes, his handsome face blurred and cleared repeatedly.
“Crying is cute too, but I’m worried. You should probably stop crying soon. You’ll collapse from exhaustion if you keep crying like this.”
“Sniff… huu, huuung.”
“Look at this. You keep gasping for breath too. You know you’re leaking pheromones right now?”
“I’m, huk, recessive, ugh… sniff, recessive so I hardly have any pheromones.”
“Really? I can feel them quite clearly right now.”
“That can’t be. My heat is already over…”
Still, it wouldn’t be polite to be leaking pheromones like this to someone I just met, while we’re this close together. I apologized first.
“I’m sorry. For being a nuisance. But, just, huu… please overlook it just once. Think of me as a human air freshener…”
“Haha.”
My body swayed forward. It was because I was getting dizzy after all my strength drained away. Fortunately, he quickly reached out to support me, then looked at my complexion as I panted with difficulty.
“Hmm, it’ll be hard to calm down right away. Should I help you a bit?”
“…How?”
“I’ll try to calm you down using a little pheromone. I’m not trying to pull any tricks, so don’t be nervous. If you want, I can even show you my ID…”
I shook my head and muttered that it was okay.
I was slow at everything I did with my head—even love—but there was just one thing I was fast at. Reading the room.
I read emotions from people’s eyes. Whether they liked me, hated me, found me annoying, pitied me, or even wanted to humiliate me.
His pupils were black, clear, and clean. Since there was only slight curiosity and sympathy toward me, there wouldn’t be any bad feelings. Having lived through various ups and downs, I’d never been wrong about this one thing, so I was confident.
“Please help me.”
“Then will you look here?”
I obediently looked at the man. Both my hands were carefully placed on his shoulders.
Soon, his pheromones came rushing toward me.
It felt like my insides would become completely cool. If you were to express with scent the time before dawn breaks after rain that seems like it would soak the entire world, it might feel like this. It also felt like being dropped alone in a place so open you could see the horizon, filling my lungs completely with the cleanest air.
The problem was that this air accumulated layer by layer inside me, not just easing my tension but…
“Huh?”
It gradually made my consciousness drift away too.
“Excuse me, wait… wait, are you okay?”
I ended up fainting in that strange man’s arms.
* * *
“This is driving me crazy.”
There were no other words that could explain it.
To make excuses, I was out of my mind. It was the first time I’d seen someone cry so heartbreakingly, I really felt like I had to do something.
Crying because of love is common. It’s obvious that people immersed in sadness become pitiful. I’d seen countless such people. I never acted this meddlesomely each time.
Wasn’t it rather the opposite? I was too calm and cold, and getting dumped with words about being fed up with that indifference was just six months ago…
“Right, I was about to go into rut.”
The man who clicked his tongue lightly readjusted the young man in his arms. He was as light as he looked, making me wonder if he even ate properly.
It was fortunate that this happened on the first floor cafe of the hotel where he’d checked in. The man carried him into the hotel.
The face I glimpsed while riding the elevator was quite a sight. On a face as white and soft as freshly kneaded dough, only the areas around his eyes, nose tip, and lips were swollen red. He’d cried so much that his eyelashes were still soaked.
Just how terrible a relationship must one have to make someone cry like this—I was curious about the other person’s face beyond just the story.
“Oh, Hanseon hyung.”
The man laid the person he’d carried into the bedroom and called somewhere.
“Sorry for bothering you when you’re busy. Can you give me a suppressant injection?”
The other person asked back in a puzzled voice.
– What are you talking about? You decided to get through this time without medication. You said you have a drama series after some dormitory program.
“Yeah. I was thinking of solving it by relieving some pheromones this time, preparing for an unlucky situation…”
– But?
“Something came up.”
– What…
“Ah, hyung. When you come, could you also bring some IV fluids for a fainted omega?”
– Jin Woohyeon, don’t tell me you…
The man leaning against the wall, Jin Woohyeon, pulled up the corners of his mouth.
“If I’d caused an accident, I would have asked you to bring birth control pills, not suppressants.”
He added with a low laugh.
“Please do me this favor. Come before my rut hits.”
By the time Jin Woohyeon finished washing in the bathroom attached to the other bedroom, a man wearing rimless glasses had just arrived at the room.
“You’re here, Jang Hanseon-nim.”
“What’s with the disgusting ‘nim’? I’ve heard it so much my ears are about to get calluses, so at least you call me hyung.”
He asked while taking out and assembling an IV set.
“Right before rut, why did a guy whose face is getting somewhat known drag an omega to a hotel room? From the looks of it, you two didn’t sleep together either.”
“I met him by chance and he was crying so much, I released pheromones to help calm him down, but then…”
“How unusual? You actually meddling. But you had bad luck.”
“Right. Was it bad luck…”
Technically, that was true. Jin Woohyeon was a dominant alpha ahead of his rut cycle, so pheromones unconsciously poured out in large amounts, and the other person happened to be a recessive type with no resistance to others’ pheromones, plus he was in a situation just before collapsing from exhaustion after crying so hard.
It was definitely bad luck, but for some reason, he didn’t feel too bad about it.
“Are omegas naturally weak in stamina?”
Jang Hanseon laughed as if it was absurd and replied.
“Alphas just have unnecessarily good stamina. And this person has a slight fever too. It would be good for him to rest well for a day.”
“Huh, really.”
Jin Woohyeon extended his arm to receive the suppressant injection.
Just in case, he’d solve it with an injection and stay in the same room to monitor the situation. It was awkward to send him to a hospital or wake him up and send him away.
“Whether it’s the love of the century or a trashy drama. What category of romance was it that made him cry and wail until he got a fever?”
Jang Hanseon, who was packing his bag, patted his shoulder.
“You’ve tried dating too.”
“That’s why I’m even more confused. It wasn’t a big deal?”
His first half-hearted romance lasted exactly 6 months. The person who had followed him around after meeting during a photo shoot declared surrender after just two seasons.
‘Being with you makes me feel even lonelier. Woohyeon, you’re definitely a good person and you treat me well… but why do I have to keep feeling so lonely?’
He cleanly broke up with them at those words. The gap in his daily life felt a bit empty at first, but after a few days, even that turned into relief.
It was the same for the other person. A few months later, they contacted him saying an acquaintance PD was planning a program, asking if he’d like to appear together.
With an attitude so refreshing that not even a hint of lingering attachment could be felt.
“I accepted for promotional purposes since they said the person was capable, but they brought such an absurd proposal…”
Jin Woohyeon, who was muttering like that, asked Jang Hanseon.
“Hyung. From what I heard, they definitely said they got a lover?”
“Ah. Your ex? Yeah, well. They came to scratch at me saying they went for a one-night stand after breaking up with you and caught a decent guy.”
That’s how it was. Jin Woohyeon had purely congratulated them asking if fate was there, only to get scolded for being clueless.
Jin Woohyeon looked at the person sleeping peacefully on the bed. Unlike himself who took no damage, that person seemed like he would have cried until the whole world was submerged.
“Is it okay to go on a blind date program when you have a lover?”
“Blind date? Ah, is that what you’re entering this time?”
“Well… similar. It’s a blind date but it’s pretty fucked up.”
“Usually it wouldn’t be okay, right? But secretly dating behind the scenes in that industry is nothing. The celebrity marriage program DBS did, ‘One Year With You,’ they say that was mostly scripted too.”
Jin Woohyeon shrugged as if he couldn’t understand.
“It’s already annoying just to do it, why add pretending on top? Anyway, people sure live complicated lives.”
“You’re entering too though.”
“I’m just showing my face. I’ll enter late, act appropriately, raise my recognition, then pull out. I already talked it over with the CEO.”
“Clean.”
“It has to be clean. Actors live off their image.”
Jang Hanseon threw a small medicine bottle. Jin Woohyeon caught it with nimble hands.
“It’s strong since it’s for dominants, so don’t abuse it.”
“Yes, sir. Please add it to the house call fee and bill me.”
“Forget it. That’s not for actor Jin but for the snotty little kid Woohyeon from next door.”
“You never even saw my snotty days. Anyway, thanks.”
“Ah, and this too.”
Jang Hanseon, who was rummaging through his jacket pocket, threw something else. It was a small, thin box.
Jin Woohyeon, who recognized what it was, let out a hollow laugh.
“Ah, hyung. We’re not in that kind of relationship. Me and that person over there aren’t in that context.”
“Where’s the context in sleeping? If eyes meet and bodies meet, that’s sex.”
“Ew, you’ve been hearing ‘sir’ from gangster hyungs lately and your speech has gotten quite rough?”
“Whatever. Let’s not become trash who ruins an innocent omega’s life, Jin Woohyeon.”
“Yes, yes. No glove, no love.”
Of course, after Jang Hanseon left, the condom box was thrown straight into the trash.
The reason was simple. Jin Woohyeon had no intention of breaking the context he had set.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
