#60
Jaeha stood up, his face burning red with shame.
A fierce possessiveness kept rearing its head.
He wanted to prevent Eunhong from going to work or meeting anyone. His crazed self was habitually making plans to confine Eunhong on some island if he let his guard down even a little. Jaeha slammed the pillow he had been clutching onto the floor. He messed up his hair, pulling at it roughly.
Everything had changed rapidly after that single incident. It had been less than two weeks. Since placing Eunhong in his house, he had deteriorated as quickly as a drug addict.
At times like this, he was reminded of his father. He hated it most, but it gave him chills every time he discovered how helplessly similar he was becoming. The image of his father restraining and coercing his mother remained like a whip mark in his mind. Even when he squeezed his eyes shut to shake off the thought, it only became clearer.
What woke Jaeha from sinking into dark thoughts was the sound of a bell. His phone, tossed onto the living room sofa, was ringing. Jaeha slowly got up and went to find his phone. The ringing, which had stopped, started again after he held the phone for a moment. He cleared his throat and answered.
“Yeah.”
– You said you were going to eat and come, but are you home?
Eunhong’s voice was mixed with noisy sounds in the background. Jaeha covered his other ear. There was a throbbing pain inside his chest.
“No. I’m still at my parents’ house. I’m eating.”
– Is that so? Um… I think I’ll be late, what should we do?
“Have fun and come back. I think I’ll be late too.”
– Okay. I’ll call you again later.
“Alright. Call me when you’re taking a taxi.”
After hanging up, his throat felt parched. He opened the refrigerator and took out a beer. After downing one can in a single gulp, feeling it wasn’t enough, he took out something stronger and poured it into a glass. The urge to check everything in detail kept surging up. He wanted to immediately check Eunhong’s location and drive his car to bring him back.
From the anxiety ignited by Jaeseong to his own filthy desires and self-loathing, everything shook Jaeha. The thought of Eunhong drifting away from him made his blood boil. His alpha pheromones, driven by the instinct to dominate an omega, lost control and simmered out of him. His hands clenched involuntarily.
“……”
When he came to his senses, everything was a mess. Blood was dripping from his hand due to the broken glass. Eunhong’s pajamas, which he had been holding until then, were covered in dried, sticky semen. His pants buckle was undone in an unsightly manner…
“I’m really crazy.”
The blood soaking the carpet was a problem, but the mess in Eunhong’s bedroom also flashed through his mind. It was time to pull himself together and clean up. He looked awful himself, and above all, he didn’t want Eunhong to see him in this state.
After briefly stopping the bleeding on his hand, he rolled up the carpet and set it aside, then stripped all the bedding from Eunhong’s room and bundled it up. Only after changing to new bedding and destroying all evidence could Jaeha finally go to wash up.
About an hour might have passed. When he came out of the bathroom after thoroughly washing away all traces left on his body, he could hear the rustling sounds of Eunhong who had just entered the house. That sound felt like warmth, and Jaeha headed towards the entrance as if drawn by a magnetic force.
He first saw the top of Eunhong’s head, bowed as he was taking off his shoes. Eunhong suddenly lifted his head. His slightly flushed face suggested he was pleasantly drunk.
“I’m home.”
“……”
Eunhong put his hand inside his coat and pulled out a black plastic bag he had been carefully holding.
“This was so delicious, I brought some for you.”
The bag seemed to have burst somewhere, as oil had seeped through. The inside of the coat must have been a mess too. The smell of cold oil was overwhelming. Jaeha slightly furrowed his brow.
“Really. It’s delicious. I hugged it close to keep it warm.”
“……”
When Jaeha didn’t show much reaction, Eunhong pouted and turned around. He was sure that if he warmed it up in the kitchen, it would be so delicious that Jaeha would be surprised, but Jaeha was dismissing it without even trying. As Eunhong turned and moved away from him, Jaeha startled. When he clenched his fist, the wound from earlier opened, causing a stinging, burning pain.
“…Eunhong.”
He caught up in just two big strides. He grabbed the chattering shoulders and pulled Eunhong into a tight embrace. As Eunhong’s hair tickled his nose, the small body fit perfectly into his arms. A fragrant scent rose from the cheeks that held the cold wind. Jaeha trapped Eunhong in his arms and buried his nose in his ear.
Eunhong raised his shoulders, feeling ticklish. This only made Jaeha burrow in more. He held on tightly and buried his face. He didn’t want to show Eunhong his current expression.
“What’s wrong with you, are you a puppy? Why are you rubbing against me like this.”
Eunhong kept letting out breathy laughs. As if he couldn’t bear the ticklishness. He reached back and ruffled Jaeha’s hair. Droplets of water from the wet hair fell, soaking Eunhong’s nape.
“Did you wait long?”
“Yeah.”
“You should have called. Told me to come quickly.”
“…I’m hungry.”
Eunhong shook the plastic bag as if he had been waiting for this. Jaeha couldn’t help but smile. With the gradually rising sense of relief, warmth spread from his fingertips.
***
Saturday afternoon.
Eunhong started his first meal of the day with ramen. He always craved ramen the day after drinking. Although Mrs. Ham disapproved of ramen. Eunhong insisted, knowing it was hard to eat ramen when Jaeha was around.
On the large screen covering the living room wall, a highlight rerun of “Alpha’s Last Love” was playing. It seemed the ending was approaching, as they were airing full weekend blocks in a bold move.
“You can only have me. If you don’t like that, then rather…”
“Who are you? Do you think you’re something to me? You died inside me that day!”
Blowing on the steaming red broth, Eunhong glanced at the living room TV. The actor’s lines, filled with intense emotion, filled the spacious room through the surround sound system. The drama seemed to be heading towards its conclusion, as the content was becoming increasingly catastrophic.
This drama was a hot topic at work these days. Thanks to that, Eunhong had grasped most of the plot. Especially since Yoo Junseok in the next seat kept it playing while working, Eunhong had become familiar with the main characters’ faces from glancing sideways.
The alpha protagonist was said to push the omega to the very limit to possess them… For Eunhong, who was quick to give up on impossible things, it was a difficult emotion to immerse in. Well, that wasn’t the important part. According to Seo Heeseung, the faces were the plausibility. Eunhong fully agreed with that statement.
“Oh my, oh my! What will happen now!”
Even Mrs. Ham, fully immersed, was letting out exclamations in dialect.
On the sofa table, there were a few towels left half-folded, and Mrs. Ham had long been lost in the TV. The pile of fluffy laundry fresh from the dryer was still full in the basket. Eunhong slurped up the ramen noodles, intending to finish quickly and help.
“Hong student. This drama, you know. Rumor has it that our CEO Lee is the model for it.”
“Ack, cough…”
The sudden attack nearly made ramen shoot out of his nose. As Eunhong wiped his face with a wet wipe, Mrs. Ham clicked her tongue and continued. Saying how slow young people were with news these days.
“Haven’t you heard? Even my old friends all know. It’s all about CEO Lee at the bathhouse.”
“Jaeha? A model?”
“Yes. They say the part about going abroad to study to escape from first love and then coming back to reunite is our CEO Lee’s story. Haven’t you heard anything from CEO Lee?”
“His personality is completely different from Jaeha’s to begin with.”
Eunhong laughed lightly as he drank some water. His nose stung.
“Jaeha rarely shouts or gets angry like that… if anything, he’s gentle. He’s so docile.”
“CEO Lee is?”
“Yes… And honestly, Jaeha is more handsome. If they were going to compare, instead of that actor… you know, that actor who used to be a model and has a single-syllable name! They should have cast him.”
Mrs. Ham nodded in agreement. Eunhong turned his attention back to the drama as he pushed the rest of the ramen into his mouth. First love… well. His hand holding the chopsticks paused.
According to Jaeha, he was Jaeha’s first love. It was hard to believe, but…
Unlike that drama, Eunhong wasn’t an omega from the start, and Jaeha didn’t hurt him and leave. Jaeha just went abroad to study. And there was no family opposition, no accidental bedding, no omega coming to hate the alpha.
And above all, Lee Jaeha wasn’t the type to be so obsessive. Just looking at how he treated Eunhong… For someone who said he had liked him since they first met, his attitude was quite lukewarm. The kisses… let’s consider those an exception. If anything, it was Eunhong himself who had been feeling heated lately. The dreams he had almost every night were like that. Considering that dreams reflect the subconscious, he was a demon. A lustful demon.
While he was thinking about it, Eunhong picked up his phone to check if there were any messages. As expected, there was no contact from Jaeha. His indifferent gaze only caught messages from Woohyun, making his chest feel tight.
[Don’t do something you’ll regret and come home.]
[Let’s talk again.]
[You think it’s over just because you say so? You inconsiderate bastard.]
As Eunhong was scrolling through Woohyun’s messages, rekindling his determination, another message came in. It was from Kang Hanjae.
