#76
Idam was curled up, holding his breath. He was in hiding after falling for Taemin’s provocation to play hide-and-seek.
‘I’ll give you 10 minutes to hide from now. And if you’re caught within an hour, you have to do as I say. Understood?’
Taemin’s expression was full of confidence. He seemed sure he could surround Idam with time to spare. His determination to do such inappropriate things outdoors was also strongly felt.
He’s really a pervert.
Idam didn’t understand why Taemin wanted to do it in an open place when it was embarrassing enough to be alone together when gaining weight. The effect of his pheromones would be the same either way.
Although Idam was hiding, he imagined the scenario of mixing flesh outdoors in case he failed. Under the open night sky, Taemin’s lips touching his body, his weapon-like genitals piercing between his thighs. Others watching this sticky act.
It was strange. For some reason, his lower abdomen felt more ticklish.
It was clearly an immoral act, but he didn’t understand why his heart was pounding and his buttocks felt sticky.
“I’m crazy.”
Idam shook his head hastily, bewildered. Even if Taemin had become kinder, wrong was still wrong. Idam steeled his heart against straying from common sense. Anyway, he just had to hold out here for an hour.
He had set a trap, so he could buy a little more time. Also, thinking about Taemin’s dismissive attitude, he really wanted to win. Idam swallowed hard.
* * *
“Where could my darling have gone?”
Taemin entered the forest with leisurely steps. This was the direction Idam had run to hide earlier. Since it hadn’t even been a day since they arrived on the island, Idam probably didn’t know the geography well and couldn’t have gone far. Moreover, even if Idam hid his pheromones, their scent would remain in the air for 20 minutes to an hour, making it simple to find him.
This forest was also used as a walking trail, so lamps hung on trees here and there, and flat stones were laid on the ground like a walkway. Therefore, there wouldn’t be many suitable hiding places.
“I feel really at ease.”
He raised the corners of his mouth, seemingly satisfied with the situation.
This remote island could not be accessed except by airplane or boats carrying necessities at regular intervals. It was also quite far from other islands. So even if Idam made a raft or tried to swim, escape was impossible. It was Taemin’s utopia where perfect confinement was possible.
He couldn’t understand why Idam was being so evasive when he wanted to enjoy this intimate space. Moreover, even if the employees saw, they all knew about his relationship with Idam. So he planned to properly overwhelm Idam this time and make him follow his lead. He revealed his sticky desire for dominance as he twitched the corners of his mouth.
As expected, Idam seemed to be hiding his pheromones now. But the lingering scent floating in the air was revealing Idam’s location.
“Where could my darling be?”
Thinking the game was already over, he walked following the scent. Soon, he arrived at a place under dense trees. As the wind blew, Idam’s scent became stronger.
Taemin looked up with eyes certain of victory. The thick leaves made it difficult to see clearly above, but he could sense the fairy’s presence. Taemin quickly climbed the tree.
“What?”
Contrary to expectations, Idam wasn’t there. Instead, Idam’s floral shirt was hanging on a branch like a flag. It seemed to be thoroughly soaked in pheromones, as a sweet scent wafted with every breeze. Taemin felt dazed, as if he’d been hit on the back of the head. He didn’t expect this cunning one to use such a trick.
“I’ve been fooled. Hahaha!”
Taemin laughed like a madman. His competitive spirit soared. Quickly descending from the tree, he began to search the forest like a hungry lion. He boasted that he would soon see a frightened Idam. He climbed every tree, rummaged through vines and weeds. He even checked the small storage shed, but to no avail.
For some reason, the fairy was nowhere to be found. Even the pheromone scent he had been relying on could no longer be detected. The promised hour was quickly approaching.
“Where on earth did he go?”
It was a completely unexpected situation. The hiding time was only 10 minutes, how far could that little one have flown? Honestly, he thought he would have surrounded Idam in less than 5 minutes, so his pride was greatly hurt.
Growing anxious, he hastily took out his phone. It was to use the location tracking app he had secretly installed on Idam’s phone. But it didn’t work. Did Idam notice and delete it? No, that couldn’t be. This app had a hiding feature, making it difficult to discover easily. Increasingly frustrated, Taemin called Idam’s phone. But he was met with a voice saying the phone was completely turned off. Did he turn it off to hide perfectly? He didn’t know that little one had such a strong competitive spirit.
“Idam, where are you?”
The perplexed Taemin shouted. But only silence returned. He looked around a bit more in places Idam might have gone, but not even a shadow was seen. Taemin’s anxiety grew.
Could he be this serious about hide-and-seek?
Omegas are said to inherently value stability over adventure and prefer peace to war. So Idam seemed far from competitive. Also, even when bullied at the orphanage, he never used his pheromones to attack others. No wonder Jang Hayun had said Idam was kind and innocent.
So he didn’t think Idam would hide with such determination. He wondered if Idam had left this forest, but that seemed impossible given the 10-minute limit.
“Yeo Idam, where did you go! Release your pheromones right now!”
Growing more anxious, Taemin began running through the forest faster. However, Idam’s pheromones couldn’t be sensed at all.
At that moment, his thoughts drifted in another direction. What if Idam had an accident? Did he slip and fall while in a tree? No, he would have found him immediately if that happened.
Then…
Taemin went a bit further. Through the dense trees, a cliff came into view with a valley below.
Previously, an employee had fallen into this valley while changing a lamp bulb on a ladder nearby. Despite being nearly 180cm tall, the water was so deep he couldn’t get out, causing a commotion. Fortunately, he was discovered and rescued by another employee. That employee said it felt like there was a ghost in the water pulling at his feet, and he was terrified. He quit soon after.
So how much worse would it be for the small and cute fairy-like Idam? Taemin’s anxiety, wrapped in super rose-colored glasses, grew even more. A familiar sandal peeked out from the grass. Feeling his heart constrict, Taemin picked it up with trembling hands to examine it.
“No way…”
It didn’t take long to realize it was the sandal Idam had been wearing.
Taemin’s heart sank. Did Idam really fall into this valley? He grew increasingly anxious, to the point where his palms were sweating. Amidst this worst-case scenario, he felt water droplets falling on his face. To make matters worse, it had started to rain.
“This is maddening.”
He twisted his lips as he brushed up his bangs. A massive wave of regret washed over him.
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn’t have played hide-and-seek. He felt foolish for being greedy and ending up in this situation. He blamed and resented himself. He needed to rescue Idam quickly. Taemin’s pupils shook violently.
At that moment, the wind blew once more. The dense leaves rustled loudly. And through the trees right in front of him, he saw the pale, fair Idam. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t fallen into the water.
“Idam!”
Taemin approached Idam like a madman. He tried to embrace him with outstretched arms. At that moment, Idam’s form scattered like flower petals and disappeared.
“Damn it. W-What…? Ah…”
Taemin, frowning, soon realized that the Idam he had seen was an illusion. Feeling dejected, his legs gave out and he collapsed.
“This is driving me crazy! Really.”
Even in this situation, the sound of the flowing valley was loudly audible. After a moment of despair, his eyes lit up with urgency. This was no time for this. He needed to rescue Idam as quickly as possible, even a minute or second faster. Just as he was about to get up and head to the valley,
“CEO?”
Idam’s voice was heard. Startled, Taemin quickly turned around.
Idam, wearing only one sandal, was looking at him with wide eyes. Taemin wondered if he was facing another mirage. So he hesitated to approach, but Idam came closer first.
“An hour has passed. What are you doing here?”
The fairy before his eyes seemed real, his voice vivid and sweet pheromones leaking out. Wherever he had been, there was dirt on his hair and clothes in places. Taemin, who had been sick with worry, felt increasingly hot inside. Eventually, he pulled Idam into an embrace. This time, he didn’t disappear like flower petals, and his warm body temperature was real.
Still, unable to believe this warmth, Taemin caressed Idam’s cheek desperately.
“Where were you, my fairy?”
“What?”
Idam touched his ears, wondering what he had just heard.
“W-Who’s a fairy?”
Wanting to believe he had heard wrong, he asked again.
“Who else? It’s you, Idam.”
Taemin answered as if it was obvious.
“Oh… my goodness.”
Idam felt like he might disappear from embarrassment. So… by fairy… did he mean like Tinkerbell? Nothing else came to mind. Idam was so surprised that he froze on the spot.
