Suhwan hesitated as he entered the room to hide, looking at Seunghyun. Seunghyun spoke with his usual expression.
“Did you eat anything this morning?”
“Morning?”
Morning? Is he talking about breakfast?
Suhwan was taken aback, not expecting Seunghyun to ask such a question. So he answered honestly.
“No.”
“Then would you like a sandwich? I bought some this morning.”
“Sandwich?”
Following Seunghyun’s lead to the table, there really were sandwiches and coffee. Although the coffee had gone cold, the sandwiches still looked good enough to eat.
Did he go out to buy these this morning?
Suhwan felt oddly bashful.
“What about your part-time job today?”
“I’m not going today.”
He even took the day off to buy this. Suhwan tried to calm his racing heart as he sat at the table.
“I’ll… enjoy it.”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t just his imagination that Seunghyun seemed attentive. He reheated the cold coffee after Suhwan sat down and took bottled water from the refrigerator to give him. He even listed the sandwich ingredients one by one, asking if there was anything Suhwan couldn’t eat.
Taking a bite of the sandwich, Suhwan kept glancing at Seunghyun. He couldn’t figure out why Seunghyun, who had been so cold before, was being so kind now.
‘But he’s really beautiful.’
Suhwan thought as he stole glances at Seunghyun sitting across from him. He had been eye-catching from the first time they met, but somehow he looked even more beautiful now. Despite being as tall and built as Suhwan, who was an alpha, something about his face kept drawing Suhwan’s attention and giving him strange thoughts. The influence of the previous night’s drunken incident was definitely part of it.
‘Am I just infatuated with his looks?’
He seriously wondered while eating his sandwich. It still didn’t feel real that he had spent the night with Seunghyun, but doing such things with the main character was quite significant. Yet whenever he looked at Seunghyun’s face, he felt it didn’t matter. He seriously considered whether he might be what people called “face-blind” with attraction.
“Senior.”
“Hmm?”
Seunghyun suddenly called out while Suhwan was eating his sandwich. Suhwan, lost in thought, looked up in surprise. Seunghyun blinked a few times before asking in a gentle voice.
“Why did you meet your grandfather?”
“Grandfather? Ah…”
The sandwich wrapper crinkled in Suhwan’s hand. Thinking of his grandfather, Jin Gilnyeong, reminded him of the old man’s stern reprimand.
Cancellation. The demand to cancel the engagement immediately. But to cancel an engagement, you need the other party’s consent.
Of course, if he were a powerful family, he could proceed with cancellation regardless of the other party’s wishes, but Suhwan didn’t want to do that to Seunghyun. Jin Gilnyeong was also reluctant to force the cancellation due to social appearances.
So the only option was to persuade Seunghyun for a quick cancellation. But Suhwan found it difficult to speak.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“Ah, well…”
Hesitating, Suhwan bit his lip firmly. Then, taking a small deep breath, he finally spoke.
“My grandfather… asked about canceling our engagement.”
“…”
“He asked when we would cancel it.”
Suhwan noticed Seunghyun’s eyes darkening. He hastily added:
“I had already gotten his permission before. But when I said it would take a month, he was… displeased.”
Glancing at Seunghyun’s somehow darkened face, Suhwan carefully began:
“So, about canceling our engagement…”
“Senior.”
“Yes?”
Interrupting Suhwan, Seunghyun asked in a low voice.
“Do you want to cancel our engagement that badly?”
“What?”
Suhwan was startled by Seunghyun’s question.
Do I want to cancel the engagement that badly? Of course. Otherwise, he couldn’t deviate from the original storyline. Somehow, Suhwan needed to distance himself from Seunghyun.
But that was just Suhwan’s circumstances. More importantly, the one who should want to cancel would be Seunghyun, who had suffered because of Jin Suhwan. After contemplating, Suhwan finally spoke.
“But if we don’t cancel our engagement…”
“…”
“We’d have to… get married?”
A heavy silence fell over the living room.
Upon reflection, it seemed too serious a topic. Marriage. Suhwan awkwardly scratched his cheek.
He must surely hate the idea. Thinking this, Suhwan glanced at Seunghyun’s face. As expected, Seunghyun’s face had stiffened.
But contrary to Suhwan’s assumption, Seunghyun’s face had hardened for an entirely different reason.
Marriage. If he agreed to cancel the engagement in a month as Suhwan wished, Suhwan would soon be engaged to another omega, either by family arrangement or personal choice. And without any issues, he would marry that omega.
The thought of someone else taking Suhwan’s side turned Seunghyun’s mind white with rage.
Suhwan looked fearfully at Seunghyun, who was gritting his teeth.
He really hates it. Though Suhwan knew this, he still felt hurt.
No, he had no right to be hurt. What right did a foreign object have? Swallowing a sigh, he asked Seunghyun:
“Sorry for bringing it up… Are you upset?”
“…”
“Seunghyun?”
Lost in thought with his head down, Seunghyun looked up. His somewhat dark eyes were fixed on Suhwan.
“I’m not upset.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Nodding, Seunghyun lowered his eyes briefly as if choosing his words. His long eyelashes cast shadows under his eyes. Suhwan stared at him, entranced.
“What if I say I don’t want to cancel the engagement?”
“Huh?”
Seunghyun’s words entered Suhwan’s mind a bit slowly.
…Doesn’t want to cancel? Did he really just say that?
Blinking slowly, Suhwan soon stared at Seunghyun in surprise.
“Why?”
Seunghyun slowly reached out his hand. Smiling softly, he took Suhwan’s hand on the table. Seunghyun’s fingers firmly gripped Suhwan’s hand.
Then, from his red lips fell words like a bombshell.
“I think… I like you, senior.”
“…!”
Like me? Me?
Suhwan’s eyes widened.
Did the main character just tell me he likes me? It felt so unreal that Suhwan couldn’t speak right away.
After blinking blankly for a while, Suhwan finally stammered:
“Huh? …Me?”
“Yes.”
“No, but… why… You hated me.”
That was certainly true. “Lee Seunghyun” hated “Jin Suhwan.” No, more than hate—he despised him. That was an unchangeable fact and history.
But now it’s different. Seunghyun felt his thoughts about Suhwan had completely changed since last night. Though he wasn’t sure what this feeling was yet, he didn’t want to let Suhwan go by agreeing to cancel the engagement. Naively, Suhwan still firmly believed Seunghyun hated him, but that was no longer true. Seunghyun didn’t want to hide his changing feelings. Soon, Seunghyun’s pheromones bloomed like flowers.
“Not anymore.”
“Ah…”
“Senior… You like me too. Don’t you?”
Sweet fragrance enveloped Suhwan. Smelling Seunghyun’s pheromones, he knew despite himself. That his words weren’t a lie. The pheromones approached gently and fragrantly, like addressing someone truly beloved.
Why has it come to this?
Suhwan couldn’t gather his thoughts. In a daze, he blankly stared at the beautiful main character. His face was getting closer.
“Mmph.”
“Senior…”
Seunghyun’s soft lips touched Suhwan’s. It was a gentle kiss. Seunghyun carefully continued the kiss, and Suhwan, with eyes closed, felt Seunghyun’s tongue and lips.
Their clasped hands were hot. Suhwan wanted to be swept away too. Just, just like this…
“…!”
Then a certain scene flashed through Suhwan’s mind.
The surroundings were dark, and Suhwan’s body was bound by something. He could feel someone looking down at him as he lay unable to move.
[That’s what you get for coveting what you shouldn’t.]
A low voice held cold mockery. Suhwan sensed it. That he was about to die.
“Gasp…!”
“Ugh!”
Startled, Suhwan pushed away Seunghyun mid-kiss. Just that brief vision made his whole body break out in sweat. And rough breaths kept escaping him. Looking at Seunghyun with trembling eyes, Suhwan cried out like a scream:
“S-sorry!”
Then he ran into the room, leaving Seunghyun behind.
***
All weekend, Suhwan was in agony.
The vision he saw was the ending scene from the novel where Jin Suhwan meets his fate. He had never before had that scene directly appear in his mind, but suddenly it occupied his thoughts. Like a warning that if he coveted the main character, he would meet the same death.
“No, no… I don’t want to die…”
Even while sleeping, Suhwan muttered deliriously. Seunghyun, realizing Suhwan’s poor condition, worriedly suggested going to the hospital, but Suhwan firmly refused. And since seeing Seunghyun caused him to unconsciously convulse, Seunghyun couldn’t approach him.
Somehow Suhwan ended up using the only bedroom alone. Suhwan didn’t know where Seunghyun stayed all weekend. He was too sick to care.
Beep beep beep. Beep beep.
“Ah.”
He finally came to his senses on Monday morning after the weekend. The alarm, automatically set for school time, rang loudly.
