#61
[Did you fight with Woohyun again?]
When Eunhong didn’t reply even after the first message disappeared, more messages came in succession.
[We’re going to the ski resort for Woohyun’s birthday, I got condo discount tickets. You’re coming too, right?]
[Should I reserve an all-day lift pass for you too?]
Eunhong sent a brief reply to Kang Hanjae saying he wouldn’t go, and opened his email inbox. Although it was the weekend, he checked if there were any replies from places where he had sent outsourcing inquiries. He also looked once more at the site where job listings were posted to see if there were any new ones. As Eunhong was frowning while looking at his phone, Mrs. Ham called out to him.
“Stop drinking the broth. It’s salty.”
“Oh? …Okay.”
It’ll make you puffy, puffy. It’ll make your handsome face swell. Mrs. Ham continued nagging as she picked up a pile of folded towels and headed to the bathroom. Ugh, she made a pained sound as she straightened her back, looking tired. Well, just distributing those many towels to bathrooms all over the house was a lot of work.
Eunhong quickly cleaned up after eating ramen and tried to help, but Mrs. Ham waved him off. Instead, she pushed Eunhong’s back, saying Professor Choi was waiting. Only then did Eunhong remember that Professor Choi had been at home for a while. Eunhong sheepishly scratched the back of his neck as he headed towards the study where Professor Choi was said to be working.
***
As he opened the door and entered, the paper newspaper made a rustling sound. The study, located at the innermost part of the house, had a structure similar to the living room that opened up to the second floor. The only differences were that the entire wall with high ceilings was a bookshelf, and it was filled with books, making it feel like a library. Nevertheless, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side, the lighting was exceptionally good.
Eunhong walked across the plush cream-colored rug in the center of the study, approaching the long desk at the far end. He carefully placed the fruit plate that Mrs. Ham had prepared on the desk and bowed his head in greeting. Professor Choi looked at him steadily over the glasses perched on the tip of his nose.
“…And Mr. Lee…?”
“Jaeha went to the columbarium with his family from the main house. It’s his mother’s death anniversary today. He said he’d be late and told us not to wait…”
Eunhong continued to speak unprompted, pushing the fruit plate towards Professor Choi.
“I was going to go with him, but Jaeha insisted that I should just rest at home… He strongly refused…”
“…Why are you explaining this to me?”
“…Good point.”
Professor Choi’s face was calm, but Eunhong somehow felt the need to be cautious. He awkwardly shuffled over to the sofa and sat down. Perhaps it was because he was the person observing their strange relationship most closely. Eunhong found Professor Choi’s gaze somewhat difficult to meet.
Next to the sofa table was a medical device with a small green monitor, attached with dangling cables. Professor Choi, with practiced hands, wrapped a pad around Eunhong’s forearm and operated the device. Soon, incomprehensible numbers appeared and disappeared repeatedly on the small monitor. Although he didn’t know what they meant, the colors and sounds gave a positive impression. The examination was over quickly. Professor Choi calmly removed the attachments from Eunhong in reverse order.
“It seems you’ve stabilized completely. It’s partly because the medication worked well, and partly because your constitution is exceptionally good, almost perfect.”
Eunhong didn’t hide his joy. He had never experienced discrimination based on whether he was dominant or recessive and didn’t have any particular thoughts about it, but he was glad that the discomfort was gone. Professor Choi added with a smile:
“Now you just need to be careful about highly stimulating situations. We’ll gradually reduce the medication too.”
“Does this mean I don’t have to wear this watch anymore?”
It had been uncomfortable anyway. Not only was it inconvenient to wear it on his wrist all day, but it also felt like it was exposing everything about him, beeping loudly like a loudspeaker every time he clashed with Jaeha. Of course, Jaeha would know that pheromones were coming from Eunhong even without this sound, but it was different from being alerted by sound. It felt like a live broadcast of his embarrassing inner thoughts.
Professor Choi stared at Eunhong for a moment, then rolled his eyes.
“No. You need to keep wearing that.”
Eunhong slumped his shoulders. He’d have to find a way to get less excited. Seeing Eunhong visibly dejected, Professor Choi added an explanation.
“It’s also to prepare for the return of the heat cycle… We need to set an expected date. We don’t know your cycle yet, right? The watch has a function to record data. I’ve set it to record pheromone concentration.”
Eunhong’s face turned bright red in an instant. Ah, the heat… That thing he had only heard about. To think that it would come to him too. He rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression.
“At that time, should I go somewhere else to… resolve the pheromones… or… find a way to deal with it?”
Professor Choi silently packed up the machine. His hands were skilled as he wound up the cables and folded the pads. Eunhong felt an irresistible urge to make excuses when Professor Choi kept his mouth shut.
“So… about that s… se…”
“Sex.”
“Yes! That! That…”
The question was strange. He almost asked, “Should I do that too?” Professor Choi didn’t give any particular answer. Instead, he took out a chart and started scribbling in illegible handwriting. He clearly didn’t want to continue this kind of conversation… Even in his own opinion, someone as esteemed as him probably wouldn’t want to give sex counseling to someone young enough to be his grandchild. Eunhong felt a rising sense of self-loathing and wished he could just die on the spot.
At that moment, the gracious Professor Choi naturally changed the subject.
“Mr. Lee said… he wants to postpone psychological treatment.”
“Pardon?”
“He said his memories seem to be coming back in fragments, and he doesn’t want to dig any further.”
“…I see.”
“Although I’m not a specialist in that field, I know enough to say that not getting treatment is not the answer. Revisiting memories slowly can minimize negative impacts.”
Professor Choi cautiously advised while observing Eunhong’s expression. But Eunhong had already made up his mind. After talking about it with Jaeha, his memories had developed a lot in his dreams. Eunhong hoped that his memories would continue to mix with Jaeha’s and eventually fade away.
“How can it be less negative no matter how I recall it? It’s an event where I already know the outcome. It seems meaningless.”
Eunhong sighed out his answer. Professor Choi took out a notepad, scribbled something, and handed it to Eunhong.
“If you need help, you can contact me directly at this number. If you have any discomfort or want to receive treatment quietly on your own, we can meet outside without the CEO.”
At this meaningful tone, Eunhong’s eyes widened for a moment. He couldn’t understand why so many people were giving him their direct phone numbers these days. Eunhong slowly nodded.
“Thank you for your concern. I don’t think I’ll need it, but I’ll keep your words in mind.”
“You young people, why do you think so much…”
Professor Choi mumbled, trailing off at the end, so he couldn’t hear everything he said. Eunhong asked “Pardon?” with confusion, but he just shook his head and avoided his gaze.
Eunhong voluntarily took the stack of documents he was gathering and offered to take them to Jaeha’s room. He did this thinking about the possibility of missing each other since he might not come to the study when he returns home. However, Professor Choi frowned for some reason and clicked his tongue softly.
“Come to think of it, this house seems to have too many unnecessary rooms.”
Eunhong tilted his head, trying to figure out what he meant, and then…
“I think so too. Sometimes we don’t even know who’s in the house. If I decided to hide, I bet even Jaeha couldn’t find me.”
He agreed, understanding it as a comment on the inconvenience. The house was indeed extremely spacious. However, Professor Choi somehow seemed displeased with Eunhong’s response.
***
Beep- Beep- The watch that had been displaying little red hearts for a while now started to ring loudly. Eunhong hurriedly took it off and threw it away. His wrinkled nose was covered with undisguisable embarrassment. Rubbing his wrist where the leather band had been, he grumbled irritably.
“Is this really stabilized?”
He was sitting in the second-floor workroom, working on overdue company projects. The theme for the cash item that came from planning this time was secret agents. Although the game had a fantasy setting, cash items often crossed different eras by theme, and since Eunhong was in charge of designing a humanoid male character, he was in the middle of browsing reference materials for classic suits reminiscent of spy movies.
While looking at a photo reference of a black herringbone suit with a Windsor line that appeared in a famous movie, it was inevitable that he recalled Jaeha, who had returned home late the previous night.
That outfit was the problem. Jaeha, who usually wore casual suits or loose knit cardigans in front of him, suddenly appeared in a classic suit, completely capturing Eunhong’s attention. A handsome alpha in a black suit, immersed in sadness… His slightly wet shoulders, probably from the rain, added to the melancholic atmosphere.
The heavy black fabric tightly hugging his solid shoulders made his waist look particularly slender. The long legs below the suit jacket reminded him of a swift and elegant beast. The white shirt beneath the deep V-neck didn’t properly conceal the chest within. Perhaps it was his own eyes that were lewd. The collarbone inside, the perfectly spread pectorals, seemed painted in his mind’s eye.
It was like an obscene perfume advertisement he had seen somewhere. If he were to tear apart that wet suit, inside would be… Eunhong shook his head, trying to drive away the fantasy. But very unfairly, even though he had only imagined it for a moment, just a brief moment, the sensitive watch rang out like a ghost, branding him as a lunatic. It was true that his body was crazy for having such fantasies about a friend who had just visited his mother’s columbarium on her death anniversary.
