#52
Eunhong only bought a warm drink at the convenience store and came out. Despite craving a late-night snack earlier, the short walk had made his appetite disappear. Besides, high school students who had finished their academy classes occupied all the tables, leaving no place to sit. Eunhong opened the lid of his warm citron drink and took a sip. The bittersweet and sour taste moistened his mouth.
Jaeha was still embracing Eunhong’s shoulder, leaning his head slightly. He didn’t seem interested in drinking, stuffing the beverage into his pocket without a thought. The two walked down the night street, staggering like drunk people, half-leaning on each other.
Given the flow of their conversation, the high school students they saw at the convenience store, and walking shoulder to shoulder with Jaeha late at night, memories of the old days blossomed vividly. A nostalgic feeling made his chest tighten. Eunhong let out a small sigh and spoke as if confessing.
“You know.”
“Yeah.”
“I still don’t like Busan, to be honest.”
“……”
Because that’s where I was taken after you abandoned me and disappeared like a ghost.
Even without saying the rest, Jaeha knew what he meant.
In their childhood, Jaeha was both family and friend to Eunhong. His parents had all but neglected him due to their circumstances, and Jaeha was Eunhong’s only anchor in the world.
When he first lost Jaeha, it felt like a dream. For a long time, he couldn’t accept that Jaeha had pushed him away and left. All the days that had passed felt like a mirage. After that period of feeling adrift in a vast sea, when they met again in the first spring of his twentieth year, maybe that’s why he couldn’t get angry. Because meeting again felt like such a miracle.
“That’s why I desperately came up to Seoul. I even got a scholarship when my mom said it wouldn’t work out. I thought I might meet you again.”
“……”
“And I succeeded in meeting you again. Or rather, you came to find me, so I guess I didn’t do anything.”
“I would have come to find you even if you were still in Busan.”
Eunhong opened his eyes wide, then scratched his nose bridge awkwardly.
“Well, anyway, that’s how it is.”
Jaeha gazed down at the side profile that laughed sheepishly. His thick eyelashes cast long shadows in the streetlight. The deep shadows made Eunhong’s expression look more precarious. Jaeha felt a bitter taste in his mouth from the distrust he had planted. He frowned and glared somewhere in the darkness, then spoke as if asking for forgiveness.
“I missed you too.”
Eunhong turned his head to look at Jaeha. A faint light shone on his pale cheek.
“…Really?”
“Yeah, you’re a natural part of me. That’s why I came to get you back.”
“What are you talking about? Why am I yours?”
Eunhong laughed, exhaling shortly. The clear laughter echoed through the night street. Laughter is contagious, so Jaeha laughed senselessly too. Pheromones flowed and mixed between their touching body heat.
The sadness that had briefly raised its head subsided quickly like dissipating breath. It was a small hint, but Jaeha seemed to have noticed as he hugged Eunhong tightly.
Don’t disappear like that ever again.
Eunhong swallowed the words he wanted to say. It was difficult to speak. He was still afraid. Somehow feeling a flutter in his chest, Eunhong hastily gulped down his citron tea.
***
The next morning.
Eunhong finally opened his eyes after turning off the alarm three times. The white blanket filled with warm air rustled as it wrapped around his body. The hotel-like bedroom, which he had become accustomed to over the past few days, was incomparably more pleasant than his own studio apartment. So much so that he thought he should definitely buy good bedding when he saved money and moved out.
But a good bed didn’t make going to work any easier. Moreover, having suffered from an extreme nightmare last night, Eunhong struggled to get up. After washing up and walking into the living room, he found Jaeha already neatly dressed and drinking coffee.
“Bunhong, you’re up?”
Eunhong didn’t even have the energy to argue about calling him by the right name. He weakly greeted with a “Did you sleep well?” and crawled to sit at the table.
“What juice would you like? I’ve already prepared the salad.”
Jaeha never showed signs of struggling in the morning. His pristine and sparkling face, elegantly serving food as if nothing had happened yesterday, was annoying. After thrashing about so much in the dream…. Though Eunhong knew it wasn’t Jaeha’s fault, he narrowed his eyes and glared at the slender back.
As Eunhong ignored the salad and just tore into some bread, Jaeha handed him a large glass full of bright green liquid. “Drink it all,” he added in a whisper. Feeling burdened by Jaeha’s careful examination of his face, Eunhong hurriedly stuffed bread into his dry mouth, trying to finish the meal quickly.
“Let’s eat slowly and go to work. We still have time.”
“Are you going together today too?”
Eunhong asked while reluctantly swallowing the green liquid.
“You said you were curious about other alpha pheromones, so I can’t let you go alone even more.”
He almost choked. What a grudge-holder. Jaeha lightly tapped Eunhong’s bangs with his fingertips as Eunhong coughed slightly.
“That’s not what I meant by that.”
“Did you wear a watch? I’ll pick out your clothes.”
“Hey, what do you mean pick out my clothes?”
Eunhong put down his cup and hurriedly chased after Jaeha. It was certain that some unknown button had been pressed again by their insignificant conversation last evening. He was still holding onto that and now talking about picking out clothes and whatnot.
Jaeha was contemplating at one side of the dressing room where Eunhong’s clothes were hung. He grabbed Eunhong’s shoulder as he rushed in, and casually held a sweatshirt up to his neck. Narrowing his eyes like he was appraising a work of art, he repeatedly held up different items. Eunhong pushed them away with the back of his hand and said,
“I was just surprised on the first day, I can take the subway now.”
“No way. It’s obvious all sorts of guys will be sniffing around, how can I leave you alone?”
“Are you saying you’ll keep commuting together?”
“We’re going to the same company anyway, what’s the problem?”
The problem is that we stand out too much…. Eunhong mumbled weakly. Judging by his expression and tone, it was clear he had no intention of backing down. His lips were clearly turned up, but his eyes were glistening… like a puppy about to cry.
“This is too pretty, it won’t work. Our Bunhong already lacks self-awareness, we can’t have you seducing people left and right.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t need to worry about me liking you. But I’d prefer if you didn’t say things like being curious about other guys’ pheromones.”
Eunhong stiffened at the mention of liking him, which came up whenever he was about to forget about it.
“How can I not worry about it?”
“I’m liking you of my own accord. You just start slowly from being friends.”
Eunhong bit his lip. Telling him to start wasn’t that just telling him to start liking Jaeha too? And how could he not worry about it? Even last night, he had a rather erotic nightmare after falling asleep thinking about Jaeha’s pheromones.
Because of the pheromones, he didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore. It was scary how he got excited helplessly, as if buttons were attached to his body. He was no different from a dog in heat. Moreover, Eunhong had no experience or data, so his body felt like someone else’s that he had borrowed. He couldn’t even remember what kisses felt like when he was a beta.
While Eunhong was lost in thought, Jaeha’s hand entered his field of vision. He brushed Eunhong’s bangs and put a baseball cap on him. The touch of his hand gently tucking Eunhong’s hair behind his ears was ticklish. Feeling embarrassed, Eunhong quickly took off the cap and messed up his hair. Jaeha shrugged his shoulders as if disappointed.
“Which car should we take? Hatchback? Sedan? SUV?”
“Anything… Do we have to choose?”
“You didn’t seem to like yesterday’s car much.”
“Did I? I didn’t think much about it…”
“Mmm, come on, choose one.”
Eunhong narrowed his eyes. Jaeha approached with three or four car keys in his palm, holding them out and saying to choose the one he liked. He fluttered his eyelashes coquettishly with his eyes slightly closed. His natural flowing hair with his neat suit outfit from the morning was already making Eunhong’s heart flutter. On top of that, with a smile on his lips pressing against him, it already felt like he was acting like a lover. Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Eunhong pushed Jaeha away with both hands.
“Just take any. Any of them.”
“It’s important, this is also a kind of flirting.”
“……”
His smiling face looked relaxed. Where did he learn to be so slick like this? Eunhong quickly put on a hoodie to hide his flushing face. It seemed like the commute to work was going to feel quite arduous from now on.
***
A week passed.
While Eunhong struggled to adapt to the changed commute, Jaeha found the commute immensely enjoyable. His mundane and even boring daily life started to become fun as he commuted with Eunhong.
Using manifestation as an excuse to start living together, it felt like his daily life was running perfectly. It had only been about a week since they started commuting together, but preparing and feeding breakfast, leaving the house together, having small talks during the commute – all contributed to heightening his sense of happiness.
He was in quite a good mood. At least until spending the past weekend.
“CEO, I don’t know if it’s just me… but Eunhong seems to have changed a lot. I happened to see him once on the street during your vacation, you know? In front of our company. At that time, Eunhong wasn’t like he is now, it’s hard to explain but…”
Jaeha, who had been listening quietly, shot a glare at Han Sejin through the rearview mirror instead of answering. The sharp Han Sejin quickly shut his mouth.
