#62
“It seems my brain is being controlled by pheromones…”
From the workshop on the second floor, one could overlook the entire house. Eunhong put down the tablet pen he had been rolling on the back of his hand and stood up. He leaned slightly against the glass railing and peered down. The vast interior of the house was empty.
This morning, Jaeha had woken up later than usual. When Eunhong, who had also risen late, went to check on him, he said in a hoarse voice that he would skip breakfast. He didn’t move an inch under the covers, so Eunhong thought he must have been very tired. Eunhong, who usually preferred sleep to food himself, didn’t bother to wake him and just ate something quickly on his own.
He figured it was normal to sleep more on such a drowsy day. However, without Jaeha bustling about, the spacious house felt unbearably quiet. Despite the warmth, his shoulders felt chilly as if there was a draft.
Using the excuse of running out of coffee, Eunhong took his cup and went downstairs. While down there, he planned to check on Jaeha. It was suspicious that Jaeha, who rarely ran out of energy, couldn’t overcome sleep.
The well-maintained sliding door opened silently. Jaeha hadn’t left the bed, as the bundle of blankets remained in the same shape as in the morning. Jaeha’s pheromones lingered faintly in the room like a morning mist.
Eunhong rubbed his face once and tiptoed like a cat. On the bedside table lay carelessly opened fever reducers and painkillers. Eunhong furrowed his brow as he examined the traces of medication. Seeing several crumpled aluminum packages, he worried that Jaeha might have taken too much.
“How much medicine did you take…? Jaeha?”
As he carefully lifted the pile of blankets, a pale face was revealed. In his urgency, he put his hand to Jaeha’s forehead. The person lying still as death stirred and groaned.
“Mmm…”
“Lee Jaeha. Are you okay?”
His forehead was damp with sweat under Eunhong’s palm. He pulled back the blanket further and slipped his hand to Jaeha’s neck. As his cool hand touched Jaeha’s skin, Jaeha whimpered and curled up.
“Hey, you’re burning up.”
Rut… it couldn’t be, right? Eunhong suddenly moistened his dry lips with his tongue. Since he couldn’t remember seeing Jaeha sick in all these years except when it was related to his nature, his thoughts naturally drifted in that direction. Eunhong brought his face close to Jaeha’s collarbone and inhaled, then just tilted his head. It was an attempt to guess something, but having no experience related to ruts, he was just confused.
“I’ll call Professor Choi. Just wait a moment.”
As Eunhong jumped up to move away, Jaeha grabbed his wrist. Caught off guard, Eunhong plopped back down on the bed.
“Are you coming to your senses?”
Despite Eunhong’s repeated question, Jaeha didn’t answer. He just lay face down on the bed, firmly gripping Eunhong’s wrist. His face was hidden, so his expression wasn’t visible. Eunhong pulled the blanket to cover Jaeha’s exposed shoulder. Patting him as if soothing a child, he brought his lips close to Jaeha’s ear and whispered.
“Jaeha. Are you in a lot of pain?”
“…”
Jaeha silently shook his head.
“You have a high fever… I think we should call the professor.”
Shake, shake.
Eunhong let out a shallow sigh. He’s definitely sick.
He tried to turn his body slightly, but the grip on his wrist remained unyielding. Heat crept up from his captured wrist. The surrounding pheromones played a part too. Eunhong’s ears below started to feel warm as well.
‘What am I thinking about a sick person…’
It was fortunate he had already taken off his wristwatch. Feeling his own pheromones leaking out, he wondered what Jaeha might be thinking… He hoped Jaeha would understand it was because his control was still lacking.
Eunhong wriggled his hips as he crawled onto the bed. He kicked off his slippers, tossing them aside. Half-leaning against Jaeha’s side, he began patting his shoulder in earnest.
“If you keep your mouth shut like this, I feel like I might let it slide without calling Professor Choi.”
“…”
“You always do this when you’re sick. You’re not a child anymore.”
“…”
“No, you’ve been doing this since you were young… How old are you now? Haven’t you heard that adults are supposed to go to the hospital on their own when they’re sick?”
Jaeha lay face down without answering, as if he had fallen asleep. He just held onto Eunhong’s wrist tightly, like a child afraid of having a toy taken away. Eunhong stopped his nagging and let out a deep sigh.
Giving up on breaking free, he flopped down. Lying there, he blinked at the ceiling, no longer patting Jaeha. The blanket, warm with Jaeha’s body heat, was cozy. For a while, only the sound of breathing filled the bedroom’s comfortable atmosphere. Eunhong raised his hand to stroke Jaeha’s hair. The soft black strands slipped through his fingers. Perhaps due to the mood, Eunhong mumbled, letting his inner thoughts slip out.
“…I was surprised, thinking you might be in rut.”
As soon as he thought that a rut probably wouldn’t be like this, even though he didn’t know exactly what it was, he felt his tension release. He stared blankly at his fingers stroking Jaeha’s hair. The relationship between Jaeha and himself was neither friendship nor romance, but somewhere in between.
Sex was certainly a different matter. Realizing how tense he had become without knowing it, it hit him more clearly. The thought of entering such an atmosphere with Jaeha made his chest tingle with embarrassment and nervousness. But he also disliked the idea of Jaeha going out to find another omega because of a rut.
“If it were a rut.”
Jaeha grabbed Eunhong’s hand and sat up. Lost in thought, Eunhong startled.
“If it were a rut, you shouldn’t have even thought of coming in.”
“…”
“Instead of thinking about entering my room, you should have run away and sought help.”
A shadow fell over Eunhong’s face. Jaeha, who had suddenly sat up, was looking down at Eunhong. His disheveled hair fell, covering his forehead. His dark eyes glinted coldly through the shadow.
“…”
“What would you do if you came into my room thinking it was a rut?”
“…Now I could…”
Eunhong hesitated as he spoke. Although it was embarrassing, he was sincere in feeling neither scared nor displeased. He blurted out something rather… no, very impulsive.
“I could help you…”
Why run away, he mumbled, trailing off. It was because Jaeha suddenly contorted his face. Jaeha buried his forehead in Eunhong’s shoulder. His hair tickled Eunhong’s face. A hot sigh brushed over Eunhong’s chest. Eunhong carefully grasped Jaeha’s shoulders.
“Anyway, it’s not the case now, so let’s call Professor Choi. Your fever isn’t going down. This is strange for you. It’s not often that you get such a high fever and feel sick.”
“…”
“Hm? Don’t be stubborn.”
As Eunhong pushed on his shoulder again, asking him to move, Jaeha slowly raised his head.
“You said you’d help.”
“Umm…”
“You said you’d help me.”
His repeated question was mixed with a sigh. It was a voice of resignation. Jaeha dropped his shoulders and just breathed quietly.
Eunhong was about to touch Jaeha’s body to get his attention but held back. Was it wrong to offer help? Due to their close proximity, Eunhong mumbled while looking at Jaeha’s lips, which were too close to his nose.
“…It’s better than calling another omega, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t answer with certainty when asked if he saw Jaeha as a romantic interest. He didn’t know if this fluttering heart was because of Lee Jaeha or because of the late-manifesting pheromones. If he had felt such desire when he was a beta, he would have easily decided, but because of this small organ that had appeared in his body after 28 years, Eunhong could hardly be sure of his own feelings.
However, if Jaeha was suffering because of a rut and needed an omega’s pheromones, he was willing to give them. Knowing that Jaeha disliked other omegas, he was prepared to do that much for Jaeha. Just lending his body…
“What? Call what?”
Jaeha lifted his head abruptly. A cold voice flew at Eunhong.
“Isn’t it?”
Eunhong asked with an uncertain tone. Startled by Jaeha’s intensity, his voice trembled with anxiety. Did he mean it was more comfortable to call another omega?
Suddenly, the atmosphere around Jaeha turned dark and oppressive. Eunhong propped himself up on his elbows and raised his upper body. Jaeha widened his eyes in disbelief and then sighed heavily. The sight of his chest swelling and deflating looked fierce, and Eunhong furtively watched his reaction.
“Are you angry?”
“…”
Jaeha didn’t answer, just turned his head and glared at some corner of the bedroom. His eyes looked quite fierce.
“Why are you so angry?”
“How do you think I deal with ruts…”
Pheromones mixed with his long exhale. Breathing out with a heavy scent, Jaeha asked in a cool tone.
“Do you know what a rut is? Do you know and still speak so easily?”
“…I didn’t speak easily.”
“…”
Jaeha stared into Eunhong’s eyes for a long time, then pulled away. He picked up a T-shirt left on one side of the bed and put it on, then slowly got up. After rubbing his face vigorously, he sighed deeply and spoke quietly, still unable to look at Eunhong.
“You might catch my cold, so get out.”
“…”
“I’ll call Professor Choi myself, so don’t worry.”
Jaeha lightly pushed Eunhong’s back as he hesitantly got up. Urging him to go do his work, he pushed Eunhong out and quietly closed the door.
