Ever since he’d listened to Kim Sun-woo while eating budae-jjigae, he’d felt strangely uneasy. He couldn’t remember the name or face of the guy called Han Su-hyeon, but the fact that that bastard had talked about revenge right in front of him especially stuck with him.
All through becoming a third-year, Won-hyeok hadn’t dated anyone. But this time, he’d voluntarily let people know he had a lover. In that situation, a drinking gathering made up only of second-years. And some bastard he didn’t even remember, talking about revenge. It fit together strangely well.
It could’ve been an exaggerated suspicion, but it wasn’t completely impossible either. Around then, Han-gyeom had also stopped replying, so Won-hyeok called him in front of the restaurant. But the fucking notification that the call was going to voicemail made him come right back out, and he ran to the place where Han-gyeom was drinking.
Fortunately, the university district was all more or less the same, so he made it there in five minutes on foot. And while catching his breath, what he saw was some fucking bastard twisting the kid’s wrist hard enough to hurt. The moment he saw the other guy’s face, his memory vaguely surfaced, and he realized the guy was that Han Su-hyeon or whatever his name was. In that instant, he saw red.
By the time he came to his senses, the bastard was rolling around on the ground clutching his waist. On top of that, there was the alpha pheromone coming from Kang Han-gyeom. He knew immediately that it was pheromone released on purpose.
Because he was an alpha too.
“Ah! Please don’t misunderstand. Nothing happened. I was just talking with Su-hyeon for a moment……”
Thinking maybe Won-hyeok had gotten the wrong idea from seeing him with Su-hyeon, Han-gyeom quickly waved both hands.
“He had your wrist grabbed and you call that talking? Do you even know that perverted bastard got his pheromones on you?”
Pheromones? Then had Han Su-hyeon really been releasing pheromones earlier? Well, it had seemed like he was mistaking him for an omega. Then yeah, from Won-hyeok’s point of view, it definitely would’ve looked pretty damn unpleasant.
“It really was just talking.”
“What kind of talking?”
“Uh……”
“Not one thing left out. Spill everything, without leaving out a single word.”
Han-gyeom’s eyes darted around. Won-hyeok had definitely misunderstood something and seemed upset, but being told to confess the entire conversation made him hesitate a little.
“S-so, um……”
As Han-gyeom tried to recall his conversation with Han Su-hyeon, his face suddenly turned red. Then Won-hyeok’s expression turned vicious again. Muttering, “This fucking piece of shit……,” he started to rise to his feet, but Han-gyeom’s lips moved.
“At first, he asked why I was dating you, sunbae.”
“And?”
Maybe Han-gyeom had decided to tell him, because as he slowly spoke, Won-hyeok paused and sat back down.
“He asked if it was because your face is handsome, and if not then……”
Han-gyeom ducked his head low and fidgeted with his fingers for no reason several times.
“Se……”
“Can’t hear you.”
“……if it was because you’re good at sex……”
“I said I can’t hear you.”
Because Han-gyeom had been staring only at the ground and speaking in such a tiny voice, he couldn’t hear him clearly. Won-hyeok bent at the waist and brought his ear closer to Han-gyeom.
Right now, Han-gyeom was in trouble. He didn’t want Won-hyeok misunderstanding, and he wanted to make him feel better too. But saying something like that out loud, right here on the street. It was embarrassing after all, but he still didn’t want to hide it.
After taking a deep breath, he grabbed Won-hyeok’s sleeve and pulled him closer. Then, with his lips near his ear, he whispered quietly,
“He asked if I was dating you because you’re good at sex.”
“……”
Won-hyeok’s head turned stiffly. Right now, the expression on his face held more dumbfounded disbelief than anger or irritation.
“Ugh…… saying something like that is so embarrassing.”
Han-gyeom’s face had turned as red as a boiled tomato. His cheeks, his earlobes, the back of his neck, the corners of his eyes—there wasn’t a single place that wasn’t flushed red. Han-gyeom had his fists clenched tight and even his eyes squeezed shut.
“A-and then all of a sudden, he said he could do it better.”
“Ah, that fucking perverted bastard! Fuck, it’s not like I can just castrate him…….”
“But it didn’t really seem like it was because he was interested in me. It felt like there was some other reason.”
For a moment, Won-hyeok remembered what Sun-woo had said. Revenge. It was such a laughable word to paste onto this situation, but Han Su-hyeon had probably decided that Won-hyeok had stolen away the lover he used to date, and had definitely thought up a way to pay him back in the same way.
He’d probably intended to seduce Han-gyeom directly and try something that way. And even if Han-gyeom didn’t know the full story, thankfully he seemed to have already seen through the fact that the guy had approached him with some other motive.
“But I told him everything. That I’m dating you because I like you, sunbae. And he also said he looked better than you, so I told him absolutely not. Because you’re more handsome.”
“……”
“And, um…… I also said I’m absolutely, absolutely not dating you because of sex, but I think maybe he’s read too many dirty novels.”
It was amazing. He’d correctly sensed Han Su-hyeon’s intentions, yet somehow attached such an innocent motive to them. Then again, in Han-gyeom’s mind, the very way of thinking—You stole my lover, so I’ll steal yours—probably didn’t even exist. He was such a pure kid.
If he told him that, would he flip out asking how anyone could think that way?
“Sunbae, p-please don’t misunderstand. I was wrong.”
“I’m not misunderstanding. Don’t apologize for stupid shit.”
“R-really?”
To begin with, it had been Han-gyeom who’d coldly snapped at Han Su-hyeon, who had been rolling around on the ground, asking why he was acting like the victim. After seeing that side of him too, it would’ve been stranger to misunderstand and think the two of them had done something. Earlier, in the heat of the moment, he had asked whether Han-gyeom had approached first, but from the start, what Won-hyeok had been most worried about was whether that dogshit bastard had touched Han-gyeom by force.
Besides.
“S-Still, it doesn’t matter!”
“I told you. I really like sunbae.”
How could he possibly think there had been any lie mixed into those clear, bright eyes when he’d said that?
“To explain, I had some trouble with that guy last year.”
Now it was time to tell Han-gyeom the whole story. Won-hyeok told him what had happened at last year’s year-end gathering and about the situations Han Su-hyeon had misunderstood on his own. As expected, Han-gyeom was horrified by Han Su-hyeon’s intentions.
“S-so that happened…… I went home after the first round, so I didn’t really know.”
“He probably kept harboring bad feelings toward me the whole time.”
Han-gyeom nodded. Then was that what Han Su-hyeon had meant back then, when he said the feelings he had weren’t directed at you?
“Just in case, I’m asking—don’t tell me you actually believe what that bastard said.”
“I don’t! There’s no way you’d do something like that, sunbae.”
His voice was firm. There was strong trust in it.
“……Han-gyeom, I think I’ve said this a few times, but I’m not that good of a person.”
Won-hyeok slowly opened his mouth. It wasn’t his usual relaxed, soft voice, nor the low voice he sometimes had when angry. It was a voice drained of strength, and it resembled the still dawn air strangely well. His voice, blended with the quiet around them, rang by Han-gyeom’s ear.
“I’m not a kind person either.”
In truth, Won-hyeok had tensed a little at the last thing Han Su-hyeon had shouted while struggling desperately. He had most likely just yelled it in excitement with no basis at all, but still, in that moment, Won-hyeok felt as if his true nature had been seen through. And the fact that Han-gyeom had heard it too made the ground beneath his feet feel like it was giving way for an instant. The name of that sensation, which he was feeling for the first time in his life, was fear.
He didn’t really know whether the source of that fear was the possibility that, because of those words, Han-gyeom might remember the glimpses of his true nature he’d witnessed before and find them strange—or whether it was because of something else.
But one thing was certain: he felt immensely relieved that Han-gyeom had said that.
“Sunbae, I think the standards for what makes someone a kind person or a good person are different for everyone. To me, you’re a good person, and you’re someone I like. And that’s not only because you’re a kind person, either.”
Han-gyeom smiled softly. Maybe because of the alcohol, his smile was looser than usual, and Won-hyeok clenched his fist tightly.
“You…… being that soft, how are you going to survive in this fucking world?”
“Huh?”
“Haah, there’s a limit to being too damn nice.”
When Won-hyeok suddenly let out a groan and collapsed onto the outdoor table, Han-gyeom immediately started to panic. He hadn’t just slumped over—he was clutching at his chest for some reason.
“Sunbae! A-are you feeling sick somewhere?”
He was seriously starting to wonder whether he should call 119 or not, when a familiar touch brushed against him under the table. Won-hyeok’s large hand covered Han-gyeom’s.
“It’s nothing, so just stay like this for a second.”
“O-okay!”
Han-gyeom clasped Won-hyeok’s hand tightly and set it near his knees. Sitting upright with his back straight, he swallowed hard. Was it because he was drunk? Or because the night air felt especially warm? Tonight, for some reason, the feeling of their clasped hands was even more vivid than usual.
As the quiet silence stretched on, the things he’d said in front of Won-hyeok earlier suddenly came back to him one after another in exact detail. While trying to explain what had happened with Han Su-hyeon, hadn’t he definitely talked about sex and all that? As the raw words he’d spilled out in front of him rose in his mind, Han-gyeom’s face started heating up again.
“For now, since it’ll be hard to walk, first let’s get a taxi……”
Just then, Won-hyeok raised his head. And he saw it. Han-gyeom’s face had turned into a completely roasted sweet potato.
“Han-gyeom?”
“Ah…… so, um……”
Han-gyeom rubbed at his face with his hand. His skin felt so hot through his palm that it seemed like even his hand might get burned. It felt like his face was hotter than when he’d had the flu before.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick? Why is your face this red? Is the alcohol hitting you all of a sudden?”
Won-hyeok felt around Han-gyeom’s forehead with his hand, then widened his eyes. Even to him, the heat he felt was considerable.
“I told you, that’s why you shouldn’t drink so mu—no, I mean, you should only drink a little.”
“I-it’s not because of alcohol……”
“Yes, it is. Don’t lie.”
Feeling wronged, Han-gyeom bit his lip for a moment.
“It’s not that, really not. It’s because I keep remembering what I said earlier.”
“Earlier? Wha……”
Realizing what Han-gyeom was referring to, Won-hyeok’s words trailed off on their own.
“Saying something like that in front of you, sunbae…… I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight because I’m so mortified. What should I do? Couldn’t you just forget it?”
Just then, Han-gyeom awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and bent his upper body forward. His oversized sweatshirt fell forward with the movement, exposing some of his bare skin. In front of the convenience store. Under the bright lights. At the sight of that flushed skin, a vein naturally rose at Won-hyeok’s temple.
As he took a deep breath under the swell of something surging up inside him, even the filthy pheromones still clinging to Han-gyeom invaded his nose. That bastard had really gotten them all over him. That fucking son of a bitch deserved to be beaten to death.
Someone else’s pheromones coming from Han-gyeom, who looked so provocatively enticing like this. Feeling something unbearable, Won-hyeok grabbed Han-gyeom and stood up abruptly.
“Kang Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
“Get up. We’re leaving. And tonight, you’re sleeping at my place.”
