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Almost simultaneously, Gu Wanjae turned his head and looked into Taein’s eyes.
“Yeah.”
“There’s only one blanket? The one to lay down.”
“Yeah, I should ask for another one. The owner lives over there somewhere.”
Gu Wanjae stuck his head out and seemed to be looking somewhere beyond the window.
Taein also cast his gaze in that direction, then looked up when Gu Wanjae made a “Hey” sound.
“Next time we travel, let’s book a really fucking nice hotel and have fun.”
Gu Wanjae also seemed to have some regrets about the ordinary guesthouse. Since they were living in a group, there must be things to observe. Taein quickly grasped the meaning and added that this room was sufficient too.
“Why. This place is nice. There’s the ocean in front. Doesn’t it smell good too?”
Indeed, a pleasant smell was coming in through the open door. Taein waved his hand as if smelling food and pretended to take in the scent.
“Isn’t that mine?”
Gu Wanjae said this while pushing out his chest. He seemed to be asking if it wasn’t his scent, but there was no change in his expression. He didn’t show off or flaunt being an Alpha, but sometimes he would say things like that. Just simply.
“…Would that be your scent?”
“Why not. It could be coming from me.”
Gu Wanjae, who had moved closer, was still putting strength into his shoulders. Both he and Gu Wanjae weren’t accustomed to their newly emerging body odors, nor could they smell them sensitively. This was also a common characteristic of people whose changes came late.
“Before, someone did say I smelled…”
“In a good way?”
“Of course, you bastard.”
While saying this, Gu Wanjae brought his thick arm up to his face and pretended to smell his own body odor. He sniffed around then lowered his arm.
“You try smelling it. What kind of scent is it?”
Gu Wanjae moved close enough that their faces almost touched and leaned his upper body forward like before.
“……”
It seemed like there was some faint fragrance, but it quickly disappeared.
Taein looked at Gu Wanjae and shook his head.
“I don’t think there’s much of a scent.”
“No, it’s real. They said it was nice.”
“…Who?”
“Someone I know.”
“Who do you know. Do you even know any Omegas among the people you know?”
“Just, well…”
For some reason, he trailed off. Taein had asked out of simple curiosity, but hearing Gu Wanjae’s diminishing voice, he made a face like he had figured something out. Though Gu Wanjae had so despised Omegas, that was because of personal reasons, and he could develop good feelings for someone later on. And knowing Gu Wanjae’s personality, he would hide it. Taein slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
“Never mind… you don’t have to say it.”
“What.”
Seeing Gu Wanjae’s expression harden, Taein smiled even more brightly.
“Why are you getting serious?”
“No, fuck, what am I…”
Even Gu Wanjae, who was good at everything and had no reservations, was inexperienced in this area. Though rumors circulated that he had so much sex his dick turned black, they were completely false rumors. The rumor about sending a middle-aged woman to Hong Kong, and the rumor about having sex with four women—all lies.
Gu Wanjae was inexperienced, having only kissed women at most. Even the kiss happened by chance, didn’t it? He had many girlfriends, but none lasted long, and the number of times they met was ridiculously few. Gu Wanjae was someone who didn’t understand love well. He was the type to push away those tender emotions far off like tearing off a collar. Calling them bothersome, fucking weird. Even elementary school lower graders wouldn’t act like that… As Taein was thinking this, he stopped his thoughts, feeling like it was the pot calling the kettle black.
Anyway, it seemed that such a Gu Wanjae had developed some interest in an Omega. Judging by how he was even bragging to him about someone saying he smelled good. Taein kept smiling with a face that said he knew everything.
“You keep smiling and it’s pissing me off.”
“What is, man.”
“Fuck, hey, shut your mouth. One, two.”
He looked ready to count to three, but Taein didn’t close his mouth. He kept smiling. Gu Wanjae only counted to two and couldn’t move on to three. Even if he counted to three, it didn’t seem like Taein would stop laughing. Taein found it funny how Gu Wanjae’s face had turned bright red from being completely exposed. It wasn’t red from anger, but the face of someone whose secret had been found out.
Taein continued laughing and fell over to the side.
Gu Wanjae hurled accusations at Taein, calling him a complete crazy bastard, then slammed the door shut.
* * *
The first day passed in a way that seemed smooth but wasn’t quite smooth.
Gu Wanjae, who had responded to his hyungs’ calls while slightly displeased, came back in the evening with his mood completely restored.
He casually bought food and spread it out in the guesthouse to eat.
Hot dogs, lunch boxes, cup noodles. He said let’s eat simply today and go eat something delicious tomorrow. To Taein, the food Gu Wanjae had randomly bought was delicious enough. Saying “I like this too,” he devoured two warm hot dogs.
The problem was the sleeping arrangement.
There were only two blankets. A thick pad blanket for laying down and one ordinary covering blanket. They weren’t even large sizes. After turning off all the lights, while Taein hesitated, Gu Wanjae said he would sleep on the floor and lay down first. Seeing Gu Wanjae actually lying on the hard floor made Taein feel uncomfortable. It would be better if he lay on the floor instead.
Because of this floor competition, both ended up lying in the kitchen.
By being considerate of each other, both ended up uncomfortable.
Taein was lying on the hard kitchen floor when he poked Gu Wanjae saying, “Hey, this isn’t right.” Gu Wanjae also nodded saying, “Yeah, it would be better to lie on the blanket.”
Though they came up onto the blanket and tried to sleep, from then on Taein was even more uncomfortable.
He could feel Gu Wanjae curling up his body as much as possible. Feeling him trying hard not to touch, not to take up space, instead of sleeping, his mind became even more alert.
‘Hey, this makes me uncomfortable. Just sleep comfortably.’
‘If we touch.’
‘So what if we touch. Am I some kind of poison? Your body is fine now too.’
After Gu Wanjae had fallen seriously ill once, he showed no particular reaction even when Taein was nearby. Though Taein unconsciously kept distance from Gu Wanjae, he later learned that moderate physical contact and close proximity actually helped both of them. Eating together, talking a lot. As a result, both Gu Wanjae and he became much better in condition than before.
Taein truly didn’t mind if their bodies touched.
There wouldn’t be any more rejection reactions, and it was strange in itself for friends to feel awkward.
On the first day, he thought they needed one more blanket, but even when the blanket the owner promised to bring was delayed, he didn’t urge them.
If there wasn’t one, they could just sleep on one blanket.
What’s wrong with bodies touching a bit. Gu Wanjae no longer hurt, and he had adapted quite well too. There might have been discomfort during the initial body changes, but not now.
“Hey, just stay put.”
“Shibal, you scared me. You’re still not asleep?”
Even on the second night, Gu Wanjae’s attitude was similar. Just sleep. Just stay. Even when Taein said this, he would just say “yeah” and go down to the floor or sleep in an uncomfortable position. This time too, he was about to go down to the floor completely, so Taein spoke up.
“Why do you keep going down?”
“…Hey, let’s acknowledge what we should acknowledge.”
“What.”
“Though we became bound by loyalty, isn’t there another aspect too?”
Since when was he an Alpha to spout such things. Taein gave a deflated laugh toward Gu Wanjae, who was only visible as a silhouette. The night was dark and there wasn’t even a single common streetlight in the alley, so only moonlight entered the room. Even that was hazy.
“Hey, if someone saw, they’d think you were like that from birth…”
“Anyway…”
Gu Wanjae, who had been lying in a sloppy position, sat up. Taein looked up at Gu Wanjae sitting cross-legged while still lying down.
“Whatever… just come up? The floor is hard, and when I touched it earlier, it was fucking hot too.”
“It is hot.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
On the first day, they kept watching each other and repeatedly woke up while trying to sleep. Though he had no fatigue since he slept soundly until late afternoon the next day, Gu Wanjae left the room as soon as the morning sun rose and returned around late evening. Taein ate a late lunch at a nearby hangover soup restaurant, and for dinner ate the set meal Gu Wanjae had bought. “Hey, don’t buy it next time. There are lots of delicious places here,” he conveyed his intention to find his own food, but Gu Wanjae said that since he came because of him, he would buy at least one meal.
…Whatever.
After finishing dinner, they took a walk around the area. Under the pretense of digestion, they walked around the building and even skipped stones in front of the ocean. Gu Wanjae’s stone bounced more than five times, while Taein’s stone only bounced twice. When he tried again, it didn’t bounce even once. “This is fucking weird,” he insisted it was the organizer’s scheme, but had no strong evidence to push forward with. In a completely natural environment, making more excuses would only be spitting in his own face.
When they returned and tried to sleep, they were both laughing and the atmosphere was good.
But without fail.
As soon as they covered themselves with the blanket, this situation arose. Taein was uncomfortable with Gu Wanjae’s reaction, and Gu Wanjae tried to maintain boundaries regardless of what Taein did.
“Aren’t you coming up? If you’re going to sleep on the floor, I’ll sleep on the floor too.”
“It’s fucking hot though.”
“Yeah… I don’t mind getting burns on my back.”
Taein, who spoke nonchalantly, rolled down to the floor. Gu Wanjae looked at Taein, who ended up lying right in front of his cross-legged position, and only threw out a short “Hey.” Taein looked straight up at such a Gu Wanjae and responded “Why.” There was no substance to the conversation.
“Wow, bastard. Even when I’m being careful, you’re acting up.”
“Hey, this makes me more uncomfortable.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
