The surgery went well, but this time my father fell into a long sleep due to sudden side effects. At least these days, they say his prognosis is improving, and he stays awake for 30 minutes to an hour each day.
I spoke with the caregiver on Thursday evening. They said he hadn’t woken up at all today and had only been sleeping, but they were regularly changing his position, so I shouldn’t worry about bedsores.
Why didn’t he wake up today? Has his condition worsened?
Yeonwoo painfully swallowed the negative thoughts rising in his throat and told the caregiver he would visit on his next day off. Since he had the weekend off, he was planning to go down tomorrow.
Tapping his clasped fingertips, Yeonwoo raised his head to look at the picture-perfect Alpha.
“…Will it become known to others that I’m meeting with Ho Munbeom?”
“No. Only that Ho Munbeom has someone he’s seeing will be disclosed. The only person you’ll need to meet is my grandfather. He’s very suspicious and won’t believe it unless he sees with his own eyes.”
“Is there anything I need to do during our meetings?”
There was no answer to his careful question. Until now, every question had been answered promptly. Had he said something he shouldn’t have?
Yeonwoo gathered the courage to look at Ho Munbeom, but soon his small head moved downward. Ho Munbeom, who was becoming familiar with Yeonwoo’s parted hair as he lowered his head, relaxed his expression and called out, “Yeonwoo.” Though Yeonwoo flinched, he couldn’t raise his head, which deepened the smile on Ho Munbeom’s lips.
“Lift your head, please. When you bow like that, it feels like I’m threatening you.”
Only then did Yeonwoo raise his head again, his expression stiff.
He looked deep in thought. But knowing that ultimately he wouldn’t refuse the proposal, Ho Munbeom asked:
“Do you have tomorrow off?”
Instead of answering, Yeonwoo nodded.
“Then, could you spend tonight with me as well?”
Yeonwoo’s jaw, which had been moving up and down, paused.
For a moment it seemed he had frozen, but then he barely managed to raise his eyes to look at Ho Munbeom. His eyes and mouth were prettily rounded and wide open.
Ho Munbeom was aware the conversation had taken a strange turn. But that night with Yeonwoo hadn’t been all that bad.
“I know it was your first time then. It would have been better if I’d been gentler, but I wasn’t in the best state that day. I think you were in a similar condition…”
Yeonwoo’s slightly parted lips firmly closed.
Mentioning pheromones is considered extremely impolite. Especially if the listener is a young Omega, one would wonder how to approach such a conversation. As Yeonwoo’s eyes trembled with apparent shock and he tried to lower his head again, Ho Munbeom spoke:
“Suppressants work well, but occasionally letting go is better for your body. If you don’t have someone you’re seeing right now, I thought we might help each other during this time.”
Even to his own ears, it sounded ridiculous. It wasn’t like luring a child with candy.
Or maybe enticing someone to have sex so directly was even worse.
Ho Munbeom didn’t avoid Yeonwoo’s gaze, which couldn’t tear away from him. Despite making an implausible proposal first, he continued calmly as if there was nothing wrong with it.
“I think I was a bit hurried at that time. This time will be different.”
Standing up and gathering his coat, Ho Munbeom looked down at Yeonwoo.
“Let’s move elsewhere. We should eat something.”
Yeonwoo’s pupils shook at the behavior suggesting he had already accepted the proposal. His gaze moved side to side before returning to Munbeom, and a small voice emerged.
“…I’m not hungry.”
“I had a poor lunch, so I need to eat.”
As Munbeom rose first and led the way, Yeonwoo quietly followed. Walking briskly with his long legs, Ho Munbeom held the door when leaving the cafe. Yeonwoo nodded in thanks and hunched his shoulders as the cold seeped through his collar. Seoul had been okay, but being in the mountains on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province made the air quite cold. With what felt like a 10-degree difference, he clenched his lowered hands as he hunched his shoulders. Seeing this, Ho Munbeom said:
“You look cold.”
“No…”
He tried to say he was fine, but the other was quicker. Ho Munbeom smoothly placed the coat that had been draped over one arm onto Yeonwoo’s shoulders, murmuring as he fastened the front:
“It’s too big.”
“…”
It felt more like a blanket than a coat.
He carefully fastened the front of the coat while looking down at Yeonwoo’s face. The small, round face, with eyes slightly upturned at the corners, moved upward. After a brief moment of staring at each other at close distance, Ho Munbeom removed his hands from Yeonwoo and slowly turned around.
“Let’s go.”
Just with one coat wrapped around him, the cold seemed to suddenly disappear.
His coat was large but surprisingly soft and lightweight. Yet it effectively blocked the cold outside air. Breathing more comfortably now, Yeonwoo walked toward Ho Munbeom, who was looking back while standing next to the only vehicle parked in the open space.
The first step was always the hardest. The second and third steps flowed naturally, quickly narrowing the distance between him and Ho Munbeom.
Warm water poured over his folded palms. Staring blankly at it, Yeonwoo tilted his head back, brushing his wet hair like he was washing his face. He opened and closed his mouth against the stream of water hitting his face, then stepped back.
After finishing his shower and drying himself with a large towel, he shook the moisture from his hair. When he looked up, his dazed face was clearly reflected in the steamy mirror.
“…”
He thought that day a week ago would be the last time he’d meet that Alpha, Ho Munbeom. Yet why was he here like this?
No, before that, what was Ho Munbeom thinking, making such a proposal? Lover, sex. Yeonwoo muttered these words that had come from that man’s mouth and bit his lip.
The man reflected in the mirror looked weak by any measure. There seemed to be no particular advantage to his listless face. Yet it must look different to others. Even when working at the mart, he often heard comments like, “Why are you so pretty?” The admiration in those voices, which seemed to come unconsciously, didn’t seem like lies.
Then Yeonwoo recalled how when he first started working at the mart, he was repeatedly stopped by people asking for his number while walking on the street. That’s why he naturally began wearing his hat pulled low and a mask.
“…”
Until now, he had never paid attention to his appearance. But when such things happen repeatedly, you naturally come to realize that your face is attractive enough to appeal to others. That must be why Lee Jonghoon, his other biological father, was like that.
He openly declared he would use Yeonwoo as a commodity. Someone like that wouldn’t stop at a meeting with Ho Munbeom. He would try to recover the money spent on his father’s hospital bills, Yeonwoo’s living expenses, and everything else spent so far, one way or another. This meant that the arranged meetings ahead would be more than just one or two.
In other words, he would experience such situations with other Alphas as well.
Dominant Omegas are valuable. Even in dramas, stories of poor Omegas becoming involved with wealthy Alphas were common.
The content of dramas that seemed exciting and entertaining when watched safely at home, hugging one’s knees, became suffocating when confronted with reality.
Yeonwoo found it difficult to imagine an ending where he met a proper Alpha like a drama protagonist and lived happily ever after. Watching a water droplet on the mirror run down the center of his face, Yeonwoo moved his hand again. After drying his hair just enough to remove the moisture, he quietly went outside.
Finding Ho Munbeom in the space divided between bedroom and living room wasn’t difficult.
He was standing by the window with a panoramic view, on the phone with someone. That’s enough, don’t bother, handle it yourself, if I step in it will be difficult to keep things quiet. Despite not speaking loudly, the pressure in his voice made Yeonwoo rub his arms. At the same time, Ho Munbeom turned around and their eyes met.
“…”
After looking at Yeonwoo silently, he said “hang up” and placed his phone on the table.
Then, moving with slow steps to the inner sofa, he extended his hand toward Yeonwoo. Looking at the hand silently offered to him, Yeonwoo walked toward it.
As he approached, his wrist was grabbed. With one pull, Yeonwoo found himself standing in front of Ho Munbeom, tense under the gaze of the man looking up at him.
“You took a long time showering. I’m not used to waiting, so I was bored.”
Feeling the heat in Munbeom’s eyes on his face, Yeonwoo hesitated before speaking.
“…I’ll shower faster next time.”
“There’s no need to go that far.”
“…”
“You feel warm after showering.”
Warmth returned to his hands that had been cold. Yeonwoo looked at his hand held in that large one and nodded. At that response, Ho Munbeom’s hand touched Yeonwoo’s waist.
