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Taein just tilted his head slightly, not understanding what was going on. If anyone should be angry, shouldn’t it be him rather than Yoon Donghwan? Who was the one who entered the building without permission? Though he had such thoughts, in front of the fierce Donghwan, he found himself thinking of his own interests first. It had been like this since leaving the tent. Yoon Donghwan was his lifeline. Yoon Donghwan was his way to survive.
When he pulled himself together like that, his surging emotions subsided. His sense of injustice also disappeared. He had lived through much worse than this. Thinking that way, he responded to Yoon Donghwan.
“I’ve never been joking around.”
“What you’re doing right now is joking around.”
“…No.”
“What do you mean no?”
Alone in whatever had irritated him, Yoon Donghwan brought his face close and got heated. It wasn’t just words – his face was reddening all over, clearly showing his emotions were hurt. His neck seemed to be turning red too. Taein quickly caught on and closed his mouth.
“Fuck, pheromones are rising.”
Then he grabbed his own forehead and staggered. Taein was somewhat flustered to be having this confrontation standing in front of the door in the middle of the motel corridor. There were many people who worked nights here, so they needed to be quiet during the day too. He also felt anxious because of Yoon Donghwan speaking much louder than usual. Taein spoke in a small voice to Yoon Donghwan, who was slamming his body against the threshold and squeezing his eyes shut.
“Excuse me. But can’t you speak quietly? There are people sleeping during the day here—”
“Hey… my head feels like it’s going to fucking explode and you’re saying that? You see me as a sucker money source.”
Taein was startled, wondering how he had read his mind. Though he didn’t see him as a sucker, he had been equating Yoon Donghwan with money and suppressing his temper all along. Taein just swallowed his saliva and shook his head. No.
“No? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, my head. Pheromones rising.”
At first he had just let it pass, but when Donghwan mentioned “pheromones rising” again, he felt puzzled. It wasn’t a commonly used expression, and he didn’t really understand what it meant for pheromones to rise. Since everyone used different words and had their own speech habits, he wondered if the man expressed blood pressure that way. Taein just quietly stared at Donghwan in front of him. Donghwan, who had been holding his head with a flushed face, opened one eye and spoke in an annoyed tone.
“You’re watching the show.”
“…No.”
“Why do you keep saying no? I think of you as a partner, a business associate, but you don’t seem to.”
“…That’s not it either—”
“Say ‘no’ one more time. Huh? Even when I treat you as a friend, you stab me in the back.”
He seemed to consider running away from the hotel room that day and failing to show trust since then as betrayal. Though he felt embarrassed, there didn’t seem to be any particular way to correct it, so Taein just bit his lips firmly.
“Are you worried about me…?”
Still seeming to have a headache, Donghwan asked such a probing question with a crumpled face.
“…Yes, of course.”
“Then put your face close to mine here.”
“What face?”
“Your face, did you think it was my face?”
He even muttered to himself, “How can I put my face to my face, fuck.” Though Taein naturally understood roughly, he couldn’t readily accept Donghwan’s proposal to suddenly point to his own face and tell him to press his face here. Donghwan, who got more heated at his cold reaction of “what face,” opened his eyes wide and looked down at Taein.
“I lost my virginity to you that day… and you keep acting like this whenever there’s a chance, fuck. I even got an injection and it’s fucking awful, you know?”
His eyes glared as if aggrieved, and it didn’t seem like he was lying. Though Taein looked at Donghwan with bewildered eyes, he didn’t react much. It was purely an intense expression of his own difficulties. Among them, he didn’t believe the part about “virginity” or whatever.
Though his business acumen was poor, just looking at his appearance, he was a fine man beyond decent. For such an Alpha to have no sexual experience until his mid-twenties was impossible. If he really had no experience and ended up going through with it like an accident because of him, then he should feel guilty, but it was nonsensical to begin with. So it would be better for both of them to just forget it.
“Look, you see me as a pure sucker idiot money source. Only I have to sacrifice.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then come close.”
Donghwan, who mimicked his speech pattern and stuck out his cheek, pulled Taein’s arm inward. The room was already packed with a bed and dresser, making it a cramped space for two people to enter. Still, it wasn’t like there was no space, so both Taein and Donghwan managed to come inside the room. Donghwan straightened his posture while slamming the door shut. He was still slightly tilting his head back as if his head hurt.
“Come on.”
He felt repulsed by the action of clapping once and spreading his arms wide.
He looked up expressionlessly at Donghwan, who was looking at him saying “come on” like calling a dog.
Though anger was gradually boiling up like heat waves in his heart, he tried to maintain his composure as much as possible.
“Not coming?”
“What are you going to do? Please say exactly.”
“If you’re close to me, I’ll be a bit more stable, won’t I? Let’s just press our faces together.”
Though Donghwan explained, he seemed dissatisfied with something.
“Hey… I lost my virginity because of you, but you’re nitpicking over something like this? Admit it now. That I’m a top-class sucker bastard.”
“That’s not true. I’ve never thought that way. And you’re not even a virgin, so why do you keep talking like that? Even if you lie like that, I—”
“Huh? How do you know that? How do you know whether I’m a virgin or a slut? You could get arrested for defamation, you know?”
“……”
He had just assumed it would naturally be so because of the man’s fine appearance. There was no evidence. Taein looked at the man who was getting serious and gradually lowered his eyes. Then he slightly bowed his head and said he was sorry. That wasn’t his intention. He sought understanding for his momentarily excited behavior.
“You don’t need to do that with words either. Show it through actions, I’m telling you.”
While saying this, he wiggled his hand. It was a gesture telling him to come here.
Taein had been pressing his legs against the old dresser, but seeing Donghwan holding his temple saying “ah, my head,” he slowly lifted his feet. There was no need to walk slowly or quickly. Because it was narrow, the moment he took a step, his body ended up touching Yoon Donghwan’s.
“Closer.”
Though part of their bodies were already touching, that seemed somewhat insufficient. Donghwan’s voice was heard from close by.
Taein, who moved by wiggling his toes, made direct eye contact with Yoon Donghwan, who had his head lowered.
Donghwan subtly embraced Taein with the arms he had been spreading wide. Though he had put his arms around him meaning come close like this, stick together, their bodies collided more deeply than expected. Taein narrowed his brow just slightly. In that gap, Donghwan’s face touched his cheek. Because of Yoon Donghwan rubbing his ear and pressing his face close, his expression naturally soured. Since it wasn’t visible, he could do this much now.
“……”
“…What’s the big deal about this… right…?”
Donghwan’s right cheek was pressed against his left cheek, so his voice was coming from the opposite side. Like he said, it was nothing special, but it was pointlessly embarrassing. Taein just coughed once while keeping his mouth closed.
“Mm.”
“It’s nothing special.”
“…Yes.”
Donghwan’s movements, which he called nothing special, were gradually getting bigger. He moved as if rubbing cheeks and tried to burrow deeper inward. Though he wondered if he was doing this because his condition was getting better, his actions were excessively bold in some ways. Because of Donghwan, who embraced his waist and pressed his body close as if dancing the blues, Taein’s whole body tensed up.
“Our heights don’t quite match. For now.”
Saying this, Donghwan stepped backward, and Taein’s steps followed along. Though he walked awkwardly with his waist being held, he sat down smoothly on the edge of the bed. Even during this, their faces were stuck together, so he couldn’t see what kind of expression Donghwan had. Was he also troubled? In a situation where he had no choice but to seek help, was he making a troubled expression?
“The effect is pretty good….”
“…Yes.”
Though he answered briefly because he was embarrassed, he didn’t know that pressing cheeks together was such a heated activity. Taein felt his whole body warming up, and Donghwan was also boldly using his hands, whether because of instinct. Even when he first grabbed his waist, there had been a feeling of touching without reason, but it was worse now that they were sitting.
Donghwan, who had been stroking Taein’s waist with his large hand, stopped moving at the sound of “um.”
“Your hands are a bit…”
“…Oh, right.”
It seemed like he would get serious again asking if he was seeing him as a sucker idiot, but this time it wasn’t like that. He had indeed been excessively stroking someone else’s waist. Taein let his complaint go when the hand that had been climbing up to his back stopped around his waist area. Even among Alphas, they varied, but this man only made 150 a month, so like him, he probably couldn’t get proper hospital treatment. He even said he got an injection once. Then he probably had less than 100 left over.
He should just not do business.
Still, he felt grateful toward the man who was trying to help him and introduce him to work.
Though he spoke so lightly, he wondered how long that sentiment would last.
Taein felt pity for the half-gangster man and just kept their cheeks pressed together.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
