“Hyung.”
“Mmm.”
Splash, the sound of water droplets faintly reached his ears. Suhwan barely opened his eyes at the voice calling him.
The air before him was filled with steam. As Suhwan blinked slowly, he unconsciously tried to move his body.
“Ah.”
His body felt too heavy. Moreover, every muscle and joint in his body was screaming in pain. Suhwan involuntarily frowned as he felt the intense muscle pain.
“It hurts…”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“…Yeah.”
“Where?”
“My stomach… and lower back…”
Half-drunk with sleep and exhaustion, Suhwan listed all the places that hurt. Then gentle hands began massaging those painful spots.
“Haa…”
Suhwan let out a long sigh as he felt his muscles loosening. After nodding off for a while, a water droplet from the ceiling fell on his cheek, immediately bringing him to full alertness.
“…Seunghyun?”
“Yes.”
Startled, Suhwan looked at Seunghyun who was massaging his waist. A droplet of water fell from his dark, soaked eyelashes.
Suhwan was in the bathtub filled with hot water, together with Seunghyun. Seunghyun, who was embracing Suhwan from behind, tilted his head slightly.
“You… are you okay now?”
Blinking several times, Suhwan asked cautiously. He recalled how Seunghyun had fiercely driven into him last night. Seunghyun smiled slightly at Suhwan’s frightened appearance.
“Thanks to you.”
“Ah, that’s a relief.”
“Did I make it hard for you?”
“Mm.”
Suhwan couldn’t bring himself to say it was fine, even as a white lie. He could still feel pain throughout his body. His stomach was seized with sharp pain at the slightest movement. Suhwan caressed his now-flat abdomen with his hand.
Fortunately, Seunghyun must have cleaned him up while washing, as his stomach wasn’t distended like it had been last night. Suhwan’s face turned pale as he recalled that indescribable sensation.
“I’m sorry, hyung. I put you through a lot.”
“Uh…”
Suhwan was taken aback seeing Seunghyun murmuring with a gloomy face. Seunghyun was looking at him with an expression that seemed like he might cry at any moment.
The memory and feeling of that deathly exhaustion was still vivid in his mind and body. If he lowered his gaze just a little, he would see his ravaged body. But Suhwan’s eyes remained fixed on Seunghyun’s face with its sorrowfully downcast eyes.
‘…Seunghyun must have been suffering during his heat too.’
With that thought, he found it impossible to blame Seunghyun. He hadn’t really wanted to blame him much to begin with… Anyway, he was now in a state of mind where he could tell at least a small white lie.
“No, it’s not your fault. You didn’t want to be like that.”
“…”
“It’s because your heat came on so strongly, right?”
“…”
Seunghyun didn’t give any answer to Suhwan’s question. Just as the silence was becoming strange, Seunghyun smiled faintly and spoke.
“Next time, I’ll control myself. I’ll talk to my hyung about adjusting my suppressant dosage.”
“Ah, I see.”
Hearing that, Suhwan felt relieved but also somewhat conflicted. His time during Seunghyun’s heat had been painfully unbearable, but now that he said it wouldn’t happen again…
‘Gasp, what am I thinking…’
He quickly shook his head internally. He must be crazy. Feeling disappointed? Unlike Seunghyun who had been in heat, he had been in his right mind and shouldn’t be having such thoughts. He wasn’t some kind of sex addict. Suhwan couldn’t lift his head, feeling like he’d become too shameless.
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“Huh? No, it’s not that bad.”
Suhwan quickly shook his head at Seunghyun’s concerned question. Still not reassured, Seunghyun continued massaging every part of Suhwan’s body.
Receiving a massage in the warm water made Suhwan feel drowsy as his body relaxed. At least he was relieved that Seunghyun had returned to his usual gentle self after his heat ended.
“That’s enough now. I’m fine.”
“Have we been in the tub too long? Shall we get out?”
“Yeah.”
After getting out of the bathtub, drying off, and returning to the bedroom, Suhwan didn’t move a finger. Usually, Suhwan would insist on doing things himself, but he had no strength left in his body, so he just let Seunghyun take care of everything.
Whirr.
After sitting on the bed, Seunghyun dried Suhwan’s wet hair from behind with a hairdryer. Suhwan stared blankly ahead before slightly lowering his head. When he reached out, he felt the crisp, dry sheets. Looking at them, he casually asked:
“Did you wash the sheets?”
“Yes.”
“You must have been tired too.”
“I’m fine.”
Without seeing, Suhwan could picture Seunghyun smiling gently behind him. Come to think of it, Seunghyun had always been the type who enjoyed taking care of others. Suhwan nodded slightly in understanding.
“Are you still tired? Want to sleep more?”
“Mmm.”
“Or do you want to eat and then sleep?”
Seunghyun asked after finishing drying his hair. Suhwan pondered for a moment. Being in the warm bathtub for so long had made him sleepy. And his stomach still felt uncomfortably full for embarrassing reasons. Blinking slowly, Suhwan answered in a drowsy voice:
“I’ll just sleep.”
“Alright.”
Seunghyun nodded and turned off the bedroom light. Then he held Suhwan in his arms and lay down on the bed.
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, what day was it exactly? Being swept up by Seunghyun’s heat cycle had made him lose track of time.
Soon it would be Seunghyun’s midterm period, and that meant it was about time for him to go back to work.
“Seunghyun, my phone please.”
“Now? Check it later and sleep now.”
“Mm.”
At Seunghyun’s gentle urging, Suhwan frowned, considering. But the consideration didn’t last long. He was too exhausted.
Ah, I don’t know. I’m too sleepy to think about anything else.
“Okay.”
Nodding slightly, Suhwan nuzzled his nose into Seunghyun’s fragrant embrace and let out a pleasant groan. Soon, Suhwan fell asleep.
Seunghyun gently stroked Suhwan’s back until he fell asleep. After looking down at the peacefully sleeping face, Seunghyun soon got up.
Click.
“Phew.”
As he stepped out of the bedroom, the lingering pheromones of the two throughout the house hit his nose. Having gone at it for almost a week in every corner of the house, it was perhaps natural that their pheromones remained to this extent.
Standing in the living room, Seunghyun briefly looked around before starting to move. First, he began cleaning up the items scattered across the living room one by one.
While doing so, he found both his and Suhwan’s phones among the clothes strewn across the hallway connected to the living room. So that’s where the phones had gone – buried among their clothes. Indifferently, Seunghyun picked up both phones and was about to put Suhwan’s in his pocket when he suddenly stopped.
A notification banner briefly flashed and disappeared on the black screen. Seunghyun’s eyes narrowed at the name displayed.
[Cha Yunhyun]
It was a name he’d never seen before. And if it was an unfamiliar name, there was a high probability it was Suhwan’s omega sex partner. Seunghyun glared at Suhwan’s phone with a cold expression. Then he moved his finger to check the message.
Cha Yunhyun: Suhwan, it’s been a while. How have you been?
Cha Yunhyun: Guess you’re busy~?
Cha Yunhyun: Suhwan?
Cha Yunhyun: You’re starting work next week, right?
Cha Yunhyun: Why aren’t you responding…^^; Let me know when you see this
After scanning the recent messages, Seunghyun scrolled up to check the previous ones. From them, he could tell that this Cha Yunhyun was Suhwan’s coworker—an employee at the Hwamyeong headquarters where Suhwan had interned during his break. But he couldn’t determine their designation. Just from these messages, it was impossible to tell whether this person was an omega, alpha, or beta.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
