Chapter 85
As he asked while glancing sideways at Hyeon-woo walking beside him, Hyeon-woo’s mind seemed to be elsewhere as he stumbled on the curb and started to lose his balance towards the road. Startled, Ju-on quickly grabbed Hyeon-woo’s arm and pulled him towards himself.
As Hyeon-woo’s forehead bumped against Ju-on’s chin, that sweet scent once again tickled Ju-on’s nose.
It was fresh and sweet, like fruit, but also green like wild flowers. Ju-on looked around sniffing, and before he knew it, he had instinctively buried his nose in Hyeon-woo’s hair, following the scent.
This seemed to be the source of the fragrance that had been occasionally coming to him even in his sleep recently.
Did they have shampoo with this scent at that house? Ju-on wore a puzzled expression.
All the omega pheromones he had smelled until now were intense and pungent scents that made his head ache. Being recessive, he could only detect such strong pheromones, so he had mostly only smelled omega pheromones around their heat cycles.
Perhaps that’s why the fragrant and subtle scent coming from Hyeon-woo was unfamiliar to Ju-on. He couldn’t even properly distinguish if it was shampoo or pheromones. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that Hyeon-woo might be an omega.
He took another deep breath trying to catch that pleasant scent again, but it had already disappeared without a trace. Feeling disappointed, Ju-on licked his lips and then suddenly became aware that he was holding Hyeon-woo and sniffing like a pervert. He jumped back in shock.
“Hey!! You…!”
Ju-on shouted loudly, his ears turning red with embarrassment.
“Please, pay attention!”
After moving Hyeon-woo to the inner side of the sidewalk, he stood blocking the road and scolded him. Despite this, Hyeon-woo’s vacant gaze remained fixed across the street, unmoving.
What is it? What on earth is making him act like this?
Frowning, Ju-on turned his head following Hyeon-woo’s gaze. He saw an alpha-omega couple walking with a baby in their arms on the opposite sidewalk. Ju-on felt a bitter taste in his mouth as he watched Hyeon-woo staring endlessly at this utterly ordinary scene as if trying to engrave it on his retina.
There were times when Hyeon-woo, who rarely seemed to come to his senses even outside, would stare blankly at something, and each time Ju-on followed his gaze, there was always a young child at the end of it.
It was unsettling. He had babbled nonsense about pregnancy just to provoke Hyeon-woo, but seeing him like this made Ju-on feel belatedly guilty, thinking he might have touched on something he shouldn’t have.
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stand seeing Hyeon-woo looking so fragile, as if he might collapse at any moment. He would deliberately say stupid things to try and change Hyeon-woo’s mood.
On days when Hyeon-woo reacted to his silly antics, Ju-on felt proud all day long, and on the rare occasions when he saw a smile, he felt excited and his heart fluttered even as he lay in bed to sleep, like a child who had received an award. It felt like playing a character-raising RPG game, conquering quests one by one.
Ju-on, who had been searching the internet for joke material until past midnight, suddenly grabbed his head and let out a silent scream as reality hit him.
He had only intended to feed Hyeon-woo and keep an eye on him, but he didn’t know how he had ended up like this. He couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard to cheer up Jaesu-taeng.
*
It was late afternoon when Ju-on returned home after spending time with friends, and he hurriedly took Hyeon-woo out. Although it was later than usual, taking Hyeon-woo out felt like a daily homework that couldn’t be skipped. He wanted to give Hyeon-woo, who had been cooped up inside all day, a chance to get some fresh air, even if briefly.
Hyeon-woo’s stamina had improved a lot since their first outing, but he still tired quickly after just a few steps. Ju-on sat him on a bench and went on a long detour to buy water from a convenience store he had found earlier.
Since the street vendors only accepted cash, he also stopped by a nearby bank to withdraw cash and replenish his thinning wallet.
Come to think of it, he had been paying for everything – water, ice cream, and all sorts of small snacks – while taking Jaesu-taeng around. It wasn’t a large amount, but he hadn’t realized how thin his wallet had become until he stood in front of the ATM. He was being a total sucker.
I’m going to get every penny back. As he pouted and calculated the amount to be reclaimed in his head, he soon arrived at the bench where he had left Hyeon-woo. But Hyeon-woo was nowhere to be seen.
Did he go to the bathroom? Ju-on sat cross-legged waiting for Hyeon-woo, but his face gradually turned ashen.
Ten minutes passed, and Hyeon-woo still hadn’t returned.
“…Huff, huff…”
Cold sweat formed in Ju-on’s hands as he panted heavily. Starting from the nearby restroom, he had run like a madman through all the walking paths in the park looking for Hyeon-woo, but he was nowhere to be found.
As night fell, the park emptied of people and a cool air began to settle.
Should I report this?
Ju-on’s hand froze as he picked up his phone.
‘It’s a secret from our house that I’m here.’
…What would happen then? Would his family find out too?
Ju-on returned to the bench where he had left Hyeon-woo and was conflicted, clutching his phone, when suddenly he heard a rustling sound from the dark bushes on the outskirts of the tree-lined walkway. It wasn’t far from the bench where Hyeon-woo had been sitting.
Ju-on moved towards the spot, drawn as if by an ominous and eerie feeling. Soon, through the dense bushes, he saw Hyeon-woo, half-stripped, and two alphas subduing him.
“W-what’s going on?!”
As the alphas, startled by Ju-on’s appearance, hurriedly adjusted their waists, Ju-on rushed over in one breath and kicked the face of the alpha sitting on top of Hyeon-woo.
Thwack-!
“Y-you son of a bitch!”
The other alpha who had been grabbing Hyeon-woo’s hair lunged at Ju-on, cursing, but Ju-on was faster.
Thud!
Blood trickled from the nose of the alpha who had been punched squarely in the face.
Ju-on, being a recessive alpha, couldn’t subdue other alphas with pheromones alone. However, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as he was also less sensitive to others’ pheromones due to his own weak pheromones.
In other words, pheromone battles were meaningless to Ju-on from the start. So Ju-on learned to fight with his fists. Sometimes he was pointed at for being uncivilized as an alpha, but he had never lost in a physical fight.
The alphas, bleeding from both nostrils, emitted threatening pheromones towards Ju-on, but it was futile. These bastards were also just insignificant alpha runts.
Ju-on knew one alpha with far more overwhelming and formidable pheromones.
A superior and perfect being who could subdue even a recessive like himself with pheromones.
It takes that much to pin me down…!
Thud!
Thud!!
Ju-on repeatedly kicked the sides of the unconscious alphas. Each time, their exposed genitals swung limply.
“…Filthy bastards.”
Ptui-.
Ju-on spat on the faces of these less-than-animal bastards and shifted his gaze to Hyeon-woo sprawled on the ground. Through the gap in Hyeon-woo’s t-shirt, torn diagonally from neck to side, his red nipple was slightly visible.
He could see the alpha’s semen messily smeared around Hyeon-woo’s mouth. The sight made his blood boil.
Ju-on roughly pulled Hyeon-woo up to a sitting position and immediately buried his nose in Hyeon-woo’s exposed nape. For some reason, the pleasant shampoo scent he had smelled from Hyeon-woo’s hair was even stronger on his nape.
“…You, were you an omega?”
Hyeon-woo and Ju-on’s gazes tangled in the air for a long moment. Hyeon-woo twisted his lips and smiled coldly.
“Ah, right. You were an alpha too.”
“……”
“Why? Want me to suck you off too?”
Hyeon-woo’s mouth glistened as he asked flatly. Ju-on’s face contorted as he grabbed Hyeon-woo’s chin and forcibly opened his mouth. The red inside was a mess of cloudy, whitish fluid. It was semen that hadn’t been fully swallowed.
He had thought it was ejaculated outside, but it was traces flowing from inside the mouth.
…Did he really suck them off?!
An uncontrollable anger welled up in his chest. Ju-on roughly lifted Hyeon-woo’s top and began examining every part of his body.
He expected to see clear marks of being beaten here and there, but everything was fine. Too fine.
Ju-on’s face hardened.
“…You.”
“……”
“Why didn’t you resist?”
Ju-on asked in a low voice, his eyes blazing with fiery anger.
“Huh?! Why didn’t you resist when you’re leaking pheromones like this?!”
“…Why should I resist?”
“…What?”
“Why do I need to resist?”
Ju-on froze at Hyeon-woo’s unexpected retort.
“It hurts if I get hit for resisting.”
“……”
“I’m just a dirty omega anyway. It doesn’t matter.”
Though his voice was dry and emotionless, Hyeon-woo’s shoulders trembled as he spat out these words.
