“I think I feel a bit calmer when I’m with you.”
“……”
I loosened the arm Do Jihoon had wrapped around me and pulled it down. Then I laced my fingers with his.
“So stay with me.”
“You right now…”
Instead of happiness, his face was filled with exasperation after hearing my confession. Apparently, Do Jihoon had absolutely zero faith in me. This bastard….
“Do you even understand what you’re saying—”
“I do.”
So I answered even more firmly on purpose. When I looked straight into his eyes, Do Jihoon’s gaze wavered slightly.
My lips felt dry with tension. I held his hand tightly and said confidently.
“Let’s date. Jihoon.”
“……”
Do Jihoon turned into stone. His pupils went blank.
“It’s a little funny saying something like this when we’re already engaged. But I still wanted to say it to you myself.”
“You…”
“Yeah.”
Do Jihoon lowered his head. He even laughed as if in disbelief. Ninety-nine percent of my instincts told me he would accept—but that remaining one percent was making me nervous.
“You seem dumb sometimes, but then you suddenly rush ahead.”
“You bastard, someone’s confessing to you right now—”
Just as I was grinding my teeth at that random remark—
Do Jihoon suddenly lifted his head and looked at me. His hand gently cupped my cheek. His gaze was unusually serious.
“I have no intention of stepping back. If you’re going to say this was a joke, now’s your last chance.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Yeah. That’s really a relief.”
What? What’s a relief? I was just about to ask when Do Jihoon smiled brightly and slowly leaned toward me.
Our lips softly overlapped.
Like a mother bird feeding a baby bird, he kept pecking at my lips. He bit my lower lip and slowly brushed over it with his tongue. I could clearly feel the rough texture.
My shoulders trembled slightly. It wasn’t from fear. It was because the fact that our lips were touching made me unbelievably satisfied.
Do Jihoon’s pheromones wrapped around me. It felt warm, like soaking in a hot spring. He tapped my lips lightly with his tongue.
“Yuri.”
“Why….”
The moment I opened my mouth, his tongue slipped inside.
His tongue wandered through my mouth. As if washing away bad memories, it swept through every corner.
Along with his saliva, his pheromones flowed down the back of my throat. It felt like my entire body—from the outside to the very inside—was being soaked in Do Jihoon’s pheromones.
More. Give me more.
I actively tangled with his tongue. He chuckled deep in his throat. I could feel the vibration through our touching lips.
“Mm….”
Do Jihoon brushed along the inside of my palate. Pleasure made my body tremble and a soft moan slipped out.
He moved closer to me. Our lips pressed together more deeply. Every time Do Jihoon moved his tongue, my palate was rubbed. My muscles trembled and spasmed. It felt too good.
Just as his hand began sliding down from my cheek—
“Jihoon, is Yuri awake?”
The door burst open and my older sister walked in.
I shoved the Do Jihoon in front of me with all my strength. With a loud thud, he fell to the floor.
The room was filled with pheromones. My sister froze while holding the door.
“Noona, so, um….”
“I came to ask if you were okay. But you look fine.”
“……”
She hadn’t meant to be sarcastic. But given the situation, I shrank down in embarrassment anyway.
Do Jihoon was still sprawled on the floor exactly as I had pushed him. My sister looked back and forth between the two of us. Her expression changed in colorful waves.
“…Mom and Dad didn’t go to work today. Come downstairs once things calm down a bit.”
“…Okay.”
“I was worried, but I’m glad. I’ll be downstairs, so you two can finish whatever you were doing.”
“Noona!”
My sister snickered as she closed the door.
Silence filled the room. Neither Do Jihoon nor I spoke first. A wave of embarrassment crashed over us.
“Hey. Get up and come back up here. Didn’t I tell you? If you sit on a cold floor too long you’ll get hemorrhoids.”
“…You really never fail to disappoint my expectations.”
Do Jihoon climbed back onto the bed.
It was awkward. Neither of us could meet the other’s eyes. Wow. With this level of courage, how did we manage to mash our lips together like that earlier?
“Yuri.”
“Uh, ahem. Huh?”
My voice cracked. Anyone could tell I was nervous. At last our eyes met. Somehow Do Jihoon’s gaze looked a little dark.
“There’s no taking it back now.”
“I wasn’t planning to take it back.”
“Good. From now on, you’re my omega.”
Do Jihoon’s last words weren’t really directed at me. He murmured them like he was speaking to himself. Since he looked a little gloomy, I deliberately raised my energy and said—
“Yeah. And you’re my alpha too.”
“To hear you say that while you’re sober… I’m deeply moved.”
“…? What are you talking about?”
“…Yuri. I think when you get drunk, you lose your memory.”
“No! I remember everything!”
“No. You don’t remember everything.”
And just like that, we started bickering back and forth about who was right.
Before I knew it, a smile had formed on my lips. It was such a drastic change in mood that it was hard to believe something like yesterday had happened.
It was thanks to Do Jihoon. If he hadn’t been there, I probably would’ve been trembling alone. Whether from anger or fear.
“I should probably head downstairs soon.”
“Yeah. We should greet Father-in-law and Mother-in-law too. They must be waiting.”
“Call them father-in-law and mother-in-law from the husband’s side.”
“Cut the nonsense.”
***
Things moved forward quickly.
That damn bastard whose lower half deserved to be deleted was thrown in prison as a rapist. Thanks to the passionate support of my furious mom and dad.
My parents cried a lot. They apologized, asking why things like that only happened to me. Their love and affection made my chest ache a little.
Because I wasn’t actually Yeon Yuri.
But possessing Yeon Yuri wasn’t my fault. If anything, thanks to me the company had avoided going bankrupt. Thinking that, I tried my best to ignore the gloom and guilt.
The moment Kim Bo-jin stepped into our front entrance, he burst into tears apologizing. It was the first time I’d ever seen him cry that hard.
I hugged Kim Bo-jin and repeated the same comfort Do Jihoon had given me.
I stayed with Kim Bo-jin the entire day.
He only returned home after spending the night in my bed. Meanwhile, I had to hug and soothe a sulking Do Jihoon for quite a while.
As for Do Jihoon and me—
“This bastard. Didn’t I tell you to throw away that poop-colored coat?!”
“Why? I like it.”
“That’s because there’s something wrong with your eyeballs! No arguments—hand it over.”
We were… getting along well.
After the kiss that day, nothing much had happened between us. Aside from moving the bed out of the study and starting to sleep together in the master bedroom, eating breakfast together every morning, and the name saved in my phone changing to ♡My Doji♡.
Other than that, we hadn’t really progressed any further.
And that bruised my pride a little. Was I not attractive as an omega or something? For nearly a month, he’d been practicing ascetic self-control. I had mountains of questions.
“So… what do you guys think?”
“What’s the cafeteria serving at the engineering building today?”
“Bulgogi set meal.”
“You bastards….”
My classmates didn’t listen to a word I said. Instead, Lee Daeju narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
“Wh-what?”
The answer came from Shin Gi-hyeok.
“While you’ve been lovey-dovey with your husband, Lee Daeju just broke up with his boyfriend.”
“It’s like throwing oil on a burning house! Why are you bragging about your relationship here?!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll keep my mouth shut until Lee Daeju gets a new alpha.”
Lee Daeju’s gaze was terrifying. Judging by his face, he definitely hadn’t been the one to dump the other person. I quickly lowered my head.
You don’t mess with someone who just got dumped.
I trudged back home. Tossing my bag aside, I flopped onto the bed. Do Jihoon’s scent immediately spread around me.
Feeling good, I kicked my arms and legs around.
There were still many things to worry about. I had to check whether Ha Min-young had separated from Do Jihoon yet, and I needed to prepare for the final exams that were only a few days away.
And also—
Figuring out what to do about Do Jihoon, who hadn’t touched a single hair on my body like he was cultivating enlightenment. That was five stars on my priority list. The most important.
[Doji, what are you doing?]
[♡My Doji♡: I’m still in class.]
[Waaah come home early today]
[♡My Doji♡: What trouble did you cause this time?]
[It’s not like that]
[I just texted because I miss you]
[♡My Doji♡: Okay, got it. I’ll come right after class ends.]
[♡My Doji♡: I miss you too.]
“Gah!”
My hands and feet curled up like a squid. I loved it so much, but when Do Jihoon acted sweet like that, it still made me cringe a little.
But it felt good. I pounded the bed with my fists.
After staring blankly at my phone for several minutes, I opened my schedule to check my to-do list.
“Huh?”
Do Jihoon’s birthday was coming up soon.
July 2nd.
That meant there was about a month left. At this rate, it would be his birthday in the blink of an eye.
That’s a problem.
I should prepare in advance. What should I do for him? My heart started pounding with anticipation.
I curled up on the bed. Sleepiness slowly crept in. Maybe I really had become like a toddler, just like Do Jihoon said. By late afternoon, my eyelids grew heavy.
My eyes blinked slowly before I drifted off to sleep.
And when my consciousness briefly surfaced from sleep—
I felt someone’s hand touching my hair.
It sounded like a quiet voice saying, Sleep well, Yuri.
Mumbling drowsily, I answered.
“Mm. You too.”
