#115
“Did you have some business outside?”
“Actually, I get notified when a registered vehicle enters.”
“Hmm…”
I wonder why the entrance security didn’t know then… Eunhong muttered quietly as he parked the car. While he was distracted trying to neatly position the car within the white lines, Secretary Kim let out a subtle sigh.
“Since you’re here, would you like to go upstairs and get an ID card for access? It will take some time for Director Lee, I mean Department Head Lee, to finish his work and come down.”
“Huh? No. Why would I need that? I’m not even an employee here.”
“Still, it might be inconvenient every time you visit in the future…”
Eunhong shook his head in dismay. “Come on, even the CEO’s father doesn’t do that at our company.” He was surprised that Secretary Kim couldn’t distinguish between professional and personal matters. The thought suddenly occurred to him that perhaps the secretary was simply annoyed about having to come down to meet him.
“I’ll just wait here, so please don’t worry about me and go back to work. I’ll send Jaeha a message that I’m… in Building D parking lot.”
The vast grounds contained several large, pillar-like buildings scattered about. Eunhong turned his head to confirm where he was.
“That won’t do. How can you wait in the parking lot?”
Secretary Kim waved his hands as if he’d heard something terrible and led Eunhong into the building. After swiping his ID card once more at the lobby, they entered a large cafeteria that occupied the entire first floor except for two entrances leading to elevators.
Secretary Kim guided Eunhong to a table by the window with a view of the elevators, then went to the counter and personally brought back coffee and dessert.
“Please enjoy these while waiting. I’ll go upstairs to see if the Department Head is finishing up his work and let him know you’re here.”
“Wow, this looks delicious. Thank you.”
Secretary Kim waved goodbye to Eunhong, who was bowing his head repeatedly, and quickly disappeared toward the elevators.
After emptying half the drink he’d been given, Eunhong lifted his head and looked around.
The cafeteria had one wall entirely made of glass, beyond which was a garden. With its extremely high ceiling, the interior was quite bright. The massive chandelier hanging down from the center of the ceiling was so uniquely shaped that it felt like viewing an installation art piece.
People were sparsely seated at dozens of tables, all wearing ID cards around their necks, marking them as insiders. Their attire was so impeccably neat that Eunhong unconsciously fidgeted with his yellow hoodie.
Sitting alone, he must have looked like a company executive’s son, as employees passed by seemingly indifferently but occasionally cast curious glances his way. Whenever their eyes met, Eunhong would awkwardly look away.
There were times when Jaeha’s world felt extremely distant like this. It wasn’t so much about the difference in spending habits or influence on the world, but rather a vague feeling of looking at an entirely different species.
‘Like a fantastic beast.’
Just as that thought crossed his mind, there was a commotion near the elevators, and a group of people walked toward the cafeteria entrance. Among them was the fantastic beast, Lee Jaeha.
People who might have been his secretaries or team members said something to Jaeha, then politely bowed and withdrew one by one. Secretary Kim was among them.
As their gazes landed on him, Eunhong suddenly felt very embarrassed. Since Jaeha’s company where Han Sejin worked didn’t feel like this, he had casually come here thinking this place would be no different—that was his mistake. He decided he would never come here again.
With slight regret and a desire to escape, he lowered his head deeply. While ignoring Jaeha approaching him and just slurping his drink, a hand slid around his waist from behind. Eunhong jumped in surprise.
“Let, let go?”
His throat tickled as Jaeha’s smiling gaze examined his face like a caress. Eunhong hastily stood up, eager to leave this place. He could almost feel the stares of people behind him boring into his back.
“There’s a grassy hill behind this building. Want to take a look?”
Jaeha said, looking down at his watch. His expression suggested there was still plenty of time before evening, making it difficult to refuse. Eunhong reluctantly nodded and followed him toward the door leading to the garden.
“Bunhong-ah. Come here.”
Eunhong flinched as Jaeha called him loudly. With a mischievous expression, Jaeha reached out and pulled Eunhong’s arm. Knowing that Eunhong was conscious of people watching, he deliberately teased him more.
After exiting through the glass doors of the cafeteria and walking for quite some time along a garden path between sculptures and evergreen trees, they reached an open grassy field filled with colorful playground equipment.
Jaeha leaned against a wooden fence and took out a cigarette. As Eunhong stared at the white, long fingers flicking the lighter, Jaeha smiled and wrinkled his nose.
“If you go further in, there’s a small hill used by the company daycare. Beyond that, there’s another café, and indoor and outdoor exercise spaces. Building E has a swimming pool and bowling alley in the basement. All free for employees.”
“Wow… That’s amazing. Are you bragging about your big company’s benefits?”
“I’m trying to seduce you.”
When Eunhong let out an incredulous laugh, Jaeha exhaled a long stream of smoke.
“Want to work here? How about a guaranteed free pass to the interview? You only need to interview with me. Take off your clothes.”
Hahaha, Eunhong burst into laughter. You crazy bastard, Lee Jaeha.
“What would I even do here?”
“What would you do? Draw in my office. Or play with me all day.”
“…You need a beating.”
“Ouch. Don’t you want to hear about the salary?”
Eunhong clenched his fist and gently punched Jaeha’s shoulder. A beating was the remedy for nonsense.
“What good are these nice facilities? Isn’t the atmosphere so strict that no one can use them?”
“Not really?”
“There’s nobody here now. Isn’t it because during work hours, people can’t even breathe? What’s the point of having such a wide garden and park?”
Ahaha, Jaeha laughed shortly and gazed steadily at Eunhong. When Eunhong mouthed “What?” the answer came back that it was because he was cute.
After staring blankly at the lips that repeatedly inhaled and exhaled cigarette smoke, Eunhong moved closer.
“Why did you start smoking again?”
“…Hmm. Just because.”
Jaeha licked his dry lips under Eunhong’s intense gaze.
“See? They say no one quits on the first try. You’re human too.”
“Would you really have refused to associate with me if I had quit at once?”
“…Of course not.”
His eyes kept being drawn to the lips exhaling smoke. As he was entranced by the bluish smoke mixing with breath flowing from the reddish, moist lips, Jaeha’s lips curved into a beautiful arc.
“I didn’t realize until now.”
“Huh?”
“I like seeing you smoke.”
Eunhong raised his heels and kissed Jaeha as he watched him inhale a lungful of smoke. Through the parting lips, the fading smoke tasted of cigarettes mixed with pheromones. Although cigarettes were supposed to wash away pheromones, Jaeha’s pheromones remained distinctly present.
“Sweet.”
Eunhong murmured with their noses touching.
Jaeha approached again and took Eunhong’s lips with a smacking sound before pulling away.
“I told you before. You taste delicious.”
“…Back then.”
I was a beta. Eunhong responded with a flushed face. That was probably the moment when the wall of friendship began to crumble.
“Back then, you didn’t have pheromones.”
“You were sweet since you were a baby.”
Eunhong brushed his cheek at Jaeha’s brazen smile. He thought, as usual, Jaeha was good with words.
Jaeha quietly finished smoking while leaning against the fence.
Eunhong stood beside him, staring at the lawn and fiddling with the tips of his fingers in their protective guards. If asked why he had changed direction on his way home from the hospital and come here, it was because what he’d heard from Han Jeongwook had disturbed his mind.
Even when Jeongwook was talking about Woohyun’s condition, his head was already so full of thoughts about imprinting that he could barely hear what was being said. Thanks to what he’d heard from Jeongwook, his understanding of his own condition was beginning to fall into place like a puzzle.
In truth, Eunhong had already noticed something unusual about his condition. In a world overflowing with information for anyone interested, he had long since searched, looked up, and absorbed everything he could.
He was vastly different from typical omegas. An omega unaffected by alpha pheromones? And with Jaeha being the exception? Jaeha’s pheromones easily disarmed him. From the perspective of his beta days when he was unaware of pheromones, it was almost like magic.
He had thought about imprinting before. But it seemed too fantastical to take seriously. He had considered that such stories might exist because these things actually happened, but since Jaeha had never performed the acts described in media for imprinting—like knotting—he had pushed it to the back of his mind and forgotten about it.
But now he was genuinely intrigued by what the doctor had brought up.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
