After a moment, Seunghyun asked in a deeply subdued voice.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Phone? When?”
“I called several times earlier… but you didn’t pick up.”
His voice continued, sounding somewhat suppressed. However, Suhwan completely failed to notice the dangerous atmosphere and replied cheerfully.
“Oh, I was eating. I left my phone in the bedroom so…”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“I told you it is.”
Suhwan nodded and answered in a bright tone to Seunghyun, who kept asking the same question. Then, naturally thinking of the meal set up in the living room, he said:
“The food was delicious. I enjoyed it.”
“…I’m glad it suited your taste.”
Seunghyun’s voice softened a little. He asked again.
“You’re really at home, right?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Why does he keep asking? Just as Suhwan was beginning to feel uncomfortable, Seunghyun changed the subject in a casual tone.
“Should I bring something when I come home? Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Hmm…”
At this, Suhwan quickly shifted his attention to dinner options. Having just eaten, nothing particular came to mind. Besides, Seunghyun had prepared a meal before leaving for his part-time job, so Suhwan couldn’t expect him to provide dinner as well.
“I’ll prepare dinner. Oh, now that I think about it, we didn’t eat the pizza we ordered yesterday…”
Recalling yesterday’s events, Suhwan’s voice gradually trailed off. The pizza he had ordered for Seunghyun would still be in the living room, cold and hardened. Perhaps he should deal with that first.
As he was thinking this, as if reading his thoughts, Seunghyun said in an amused voice:
“Then shall we eat that first? I don’t mind.”
“O-okay. Let’s do that.”
Suhwan answered with a flushed face. After telling Seunghyun to have a good day at work, he hung up and fanned his face with his hand.
Somehow, this was becoming more natural by the day. Being with each other had become normal, eating together had become natural, and thinking about meals and taking care of each other had become expected. And the kisses, and those… nighttime activities.
This isn’t right. It really isn’t right.
But once again, no amount of worrying would solve anything.
Buzzzzz.
“Ah! You startled me.”
Another vibration came from the phone in his hand. Suhwan picked up the phone in surprise.
How many times is this today? Who’s calling now?
“…?”
He tilted his head again at the name that appeared on the screen.
[Yoon Doyoung]
“Who is this?”
It was a completely unfamiliar name. It was natural for Suhwan not to remember since he had no memories, but given that nothing came to mind, it was probably a name that didn’t appear in the novel. However, the name showing up on his phone meant it was registered in Jin Suhwan’s contacts, which meant it was someone Jin Suhwan knew.
A coworker? Or someone from university?
Jin Suhwan always confused people by only registering names without any additional information in his contacts.
Surely it’s not another omega hookup…?
His heart pounded with anxiety. After glancing around nervously, Suhwan cautiously answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Huh? Ah! Haha, Senior!”
“…?”
An energetic voice rang in his ear. It sounded quite familiar. Given the “senior” title, perhaps someone from university? While Suhwan remained silent, the caller asked in a rapid voice:
“What are you doing now?”
“Hmm, me?”
“Yes!”
“Just… at home?”
“Oh, perfect!”
“…?”
But it wasn’t just one person’s voice coming through the receiver. A mixture of noisy sounds and multiple voices confused Suhwan’s ears. The owner of the voice that had called immediately shouted loudly:
“Senior! Can you come today then?”
“Today?”
“Yes, we have our gathering today!”
“Gathering?”
“Haha, why are you acting like that! The second Saturday of every month is our meeting day!”
“Ah…”
Suhwan suddenly remembered the message he had received on the weekend right after he had manifested. He had been too overwhelmed to answer the call, and later checked the message which mentioned something about a club gathering.
A club, so it was a junior from the club. The same club where Seunghyun and Geonyul were members. Suhwan spoke with a troubled expression.
“No, I…”
“Are you unable to come this time too? Is something wrong? You said you’re at home.”
“Well, that…”
This was becoming awkward. Having answered honestly without thinking, any excuse would now seem flimsy.
What should I do? Sweat trickled down Suhwan’s back.
From the club students’ perspective, Jin Suhwan was prey they didn’t want to miss. As long as they could endure his drunken behavior and sometimes unreasonable demands, they could get free drinks for the night. The moody Jin Suhwan would pay for all the alcohol.
So whenever there was a club gathering, they welcomed Jin Suhwan despite everyone typically avoiding him. But Suhwan had no intention of attending such an uncomfortable gathering. Stammering, he tried to find an excuse.
“I’m, feeling a bit sick…”
“Oh, really? Are you okay?”
“Ahem, hmm, just a little.”
He coughed a bit, pretending to be sick, and watched for a reaction. This should be enough to get out of it, right? As he was secretly proud of his convincing performance, he heard a somewhat troubled voice.
“Ah, but Geonyul is…”
“What? Ju Geonyul?”
“Just a moment!”
Why is that name coming up here?
While Suhwan was surprised and dumbfounded, he heard several voices saying something, and then a low voice came through the receiver.
“Hyung.”
“…!”
Although he had only heard it once in reality, the voice was unmistakable to Suhwan’s ears. It was a voice he could never forget.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
“Huh? Ah…”
It was Ju Geonyul. He continued to question the surprised Suhwan.
“Are you very sick? Should I come to your place?”
“What?”
Suhwan jumped up in shock.
Then he suddenly realized that this situation was almost identical to a scene from the novel.
In the original story, Seunghyun, who was imprisoned by Jin Suhwan, didn’t attend school even after the semester started, and Jin Suhwan also stopped attending the club gatherings he had always faithfully attended. Finding this suspicious, Geonyul had called Jin Suhwan and gently probed. He had asked if Jin Suhwan was sick, saying that living alone must be tough and offering to come over to take care of him.
However, in the original story, Jin Suhwan was in a situation where he had Seunghyun confined in his home, so he was extremely flustered and eventually pretended to give in and went out to attend the club gathering. Geonyul later used this strategy to rescue Seunghyun.
Though Suhwan had tried to avoid this, he anxiously rolled his eyes at the flow of events that seemed to be following the original story closely.
“Hyung?”
“Huh? Oh, well…”
His mind was in chaos. Refusing here would mean perfectly following the original story’s flow, but confidently inviting Geonyul to come was also problematic… he might run into Seunghyun, who would be returning from work soon.
No, unlike the original Jin Suhwan, he hadn’t done anything to Seunghyun. So even if the three of them met, the current Suhwan wouldn’t be harmed by Geonyul.
But at that moment, Suhwan imagined Geonyul and Seunghyun standing side by side. Though just imagination, the two looked perfectly matched. A dominant alpha and a dominant omega. It seemed like a fantasy couple ordained by the gods themselves.
However, imagining this made Suhwan feel strangely bad. Something welled up inside him. Just as he was surprised at his own reaction, Geonyul’s voice was heard again.
“You looked sick before too. You must be really unwell. I’ll come over now.”
“No!”
“No?”
Suhwan, who had shouted without thinking, pressed his lips together. Then he rolled his eyes, checking around nervously though no one was there.
“Hyung, what do you mean?”
“Ah, well…”
It was getting difficult to keep making excuses. Finally, Suhwan forced himself to speak.
“I think I’m feeling better after taking medicine and resting. I’ll come over there now.”
That seemed better than having Geonyul come to this house. Suhwan spoke with an internal sigh, and a pleased voice responded:
“Really? Then I’ll tell you where we are…”
“Mmhm, okay.”
After hanging up, Suhwan heaved a deep sigh. He ended up being dragged to an unwanted drinking session. Frowning, he got up from his seat.
***
“Oh, hyung!”
Suhwan walked toward Geonyul’s table with an awkward smile. But the closer he got, the harder it became to maintain his expression. He must have approached Geonyul with quite a strange look on his face.
“You really don’t look well. Did you force yourself to come?”
“…Ah, I’m fine. Haha.”
His face was rigid with awkwardness, but the main character spoke with a kind voice of concern. Suhwan sat at the same table with a stiff face. It felt like sitting on a bed of thorns.
“It’s been so hard to see you lately. What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been sick at home, I told you.”
“Really? But why…”
“…?”
