#46
Afraid that Hyun-oh might disappear and leave him alone like he did on their wedding night, Eunsol gathered his courage. Though his voice trembled faintly at the end, his gaze remained clear and steady as he looked at Hyun-oh.
Their bodies, clearly different in size, gradually began to overlap.
Eunsol relaxed as Hyun-oh’s touch was gentler than he had expected.Â
Yet tears continuously streamed down his reddened eyes, a physiological reaction. A warm hand caressed his tear-soaked cheeks and wiped his eyes where tears continued to well up.
Eunsol focused on the hands cradling his face. He closed his tear-dampened eyes and gently rested his cheek against the palm large enough to cover his entire face. At this innocent and naive gesture, Hyun-oh’s Adam’s apple bobbed visibly.
Something felt wrong inside his chest. Unbearable emotions swirled in his stomach before surging to his head, disrupting his reason.
Veins appeared at Hyun-oh’s temples as something both ticklish and overwhelming enough to swallow his heart whole swept through him.
Dangerous.
An alarm instinctively sounded in his mind. The relationship between Eunsol and himself was perfect just as it was.
Eunsol didn’t need to do anything. He was simply someone who needed to be by Hyun-oh’s side when needed.
Today’s events were just an extension of that arrangement.
If something happened to Eunsol, Hyun-oh would have to bring a new person to take his place. Besides, Hyun-oh currently had a clear advantage in his fight with his half-brother. However, one more step remained before complete victory.
Some might mock him for being so cautious when only one step remained, but Hyun-oh knew well that the closer one gets to the summit, one wrong step could nullify all previous efforts and time invested.
Replacing a spouse at such a time would be perfect fodder for gossip.
Moreover, marrying Eunsol was the result of Hyun-oh following his own desires. Though there were many suitable marriage prospects, when Hyun-oh first encountered Eunsol in that spacious hotel room, he felt all other options were pushed aside.
It was true that after his father’s untimely death, Hyun-oh had visited the hotel room personally to make the unfortunate Eunsol his spouse. However, even then, if Hyun-oh hadn’t liked Eunsol after meeting him, he could have easily come up with alternatives.
That decision now constricted Hyun-oh’s heart.
“Hyun-oh?”
Eunsol’s voice was puzzled.
His heart pounded strongly as he felt his and Hyun-oh’s pheromones strangely mixing in the air.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he closed his eyes and endured. Yet even with his eyes closed, he was comforted by Hyun-oh’s presence, which he could feel throughout his body. A sense of comfort like being laid in a cradle enveloped him completely.
As he tried to focus on the sensation spreading like wildfire, Hyun-oh suddenly stopped moving.
When Eunsol opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but part his lips at the cold gaze falling upon him. Though Hyun-oh had never looked at him with tender eyes, Eunsol remembered when those eyes had been fiery, as if Hyun-oh’s had been infected by Eunsol’s heat.
It wasn’t even that long ago. It had been like that until just before Eunsol closed his eyes.
But why… was Hyun-oh looking at him with such a cold gaze now? A feeling of confusion blossomed in his chest. Eunsol desperately tried to understand.
The reason for Hyun-oh’s changed gaze.
Perhaps Hyun-oh’s ardor had cooled because of Eunsol’s clumsy actions. What was happening between them now was essentially Hyun-oh helping Eunsol.
The thought suddenly occurred to him that perhaps Hyun-oh had grown tired of obligatory actions toward someone he found unattractive.
“…Ah.”
Eunsol’s field of vision changed. Until just a moment ago, Hyun-oh’s hardened expression had filled his sight, but now he could only see the crumpled sheet.
His large eyes became drenched with fear. When facing Hyun-oh, even though it hurt and frightened him, it was bearable because the person holding him was Hyun-oh. The fullness in his heart had helped him endure.
He couldn’t even turn his head back. A large hand was already pressing down on the back of Eunsol’s neck.
“Hyun-oh…”
Eunsol finally let out a sorrowful cry. Pushing Hyun-oh away was unthinkable for Eunsol. No matter how Hyun-oh treated him, his mind was filled with the thought that he should not resist, especially in bed, but it was difficult to completely shake off his fear.
Perhaps due to his fear, memories of his encounter with Han Hyunyong surfaced. It felt as if Han Hyunyong was right behind him.
Though he knew rationally that couldn’t be true, the fleeting thought stimulated all of Eunsol’s fear.
Today had already been a difficult day for Eunsol. On top of that, his heat cycle had erupted more severely than ever before.
Eunsol’s mind became damp, as if he had been thrown into a downpour while defenseless. His small face became wet with tears that escaped from his eyes, as if he had actually been caught in the rain.
It was quite some time before Hyun-oh came to his senses.
The sound of pitiful crying with face buried in the sheets clung to his ears. Hyun-oh sneered at himself.
In the end, this was all he was capable of.
Unable to control his own emotions, he had pushed Eunsol. He couldn’t bear to continue facing that clear face. In that moment, Hyun-oh chose the easiest yet most violent method available to him.
Since he couldn’t leave Eunsol suffering in his heat cycle, he had roughly pushed him without considering how Eunsol would receive it.
“Lee Eunsol.”
“Hic…”
Hyun-oh had no choice but to turn Eunsol around. Despite hearing Hyun-oh’s voice, Eunsol kept his eyes tightly shut and continued trembling.
Like a child who believes that if they close their eyes, others can’t see them.
After a moment’s hesitation, Hyun-oh reached out and brushed the sweat-soaked hair back from Eunsol’s forehead. His gaze briefly lingered on the round forehead, but he didn’t lower his head. The corners of his mouth hardened.
Instead, he called Eunsol’s name again so that Eunsol would recognize his voice.
“Lee Eunsol.”
The low voice pounded at Eunsol’s ears. His tear-soaked eyelashes, which had been stuck to his cheekbones, slowly peeled away.
Seeing Hyun-oh’s eyes up close, Eunsol forcefully swallowed the tears that had risen to his throat. While he was relieved to be able to face Hyun-oh again, he was still frightened by the memory of Hyun-oh’s violent, restraining touch.
“…I’m sorry about what just happened.”
When Hyun-oh saw his own face reflected in those sorrowful black eyes, he felt compelled to apologize to Eunsol. He had rarely apologized to anyone in his life. Even those few times had been during his childhood.
After growing up, he consciously avoided apologizing. This was because when he did apologize, those around him would try to exploit it. And he had no reason to apologize to his subordinates.
But Eunsol was not someone he employed, and he was aware that his recent actions had been excessive, so an apology came naturally. Yet it didn’t hurt his pride.
All he could see was Eunsol’s face, with eyes trembling violently at his apology.
The words “I’m sorry” came easily to his lips, but only for Eunsol.
And now Hyun-oh had to do something else to Eunsol that he would need to apologize for. At this rate, Eunsol’s heat cycle would continue for a long time. There was only one way to end it as quickly as possible.
“I think I’ll have to apologize again.”
Eunsol’s eyes rippled like the surface of a lake struck by a stone. He was unfamiliar with apologies, having never heard one before meeting Hyun-oh.
His father, who had left the world before him, might have apologized to Eunsol, but in his current memories, not even the house servants had ever apologized to him.
As the family’s influential members abused Eunsol, even the servants looked down on him and treated him carelessly.
Some servants even blamed their mistakes on Eunsol. As a result, Eunsol was severely disciplined by his stepmother.
Although he was frightened by Hyun-oh’s actions, he never thought it was something that warranted an apology. This wasn’t the first time he had heard an apology from Hyun-oh, but perhaps due to the circumstances, it gave him a strange feeling.
“There’s a way to end the heat cycle quickly, but it will be very difficult for you.”
The moment Hyun-oh finished speaking, Eunsol thought he knew what Hyun-oh intended to do. It was something he had seen in videos shown by Manager Do—how an alpha treats an omega in heat.
“If you say no, I won’t do it.”
Hyun-oh hesitated, his fingertips trembling slightly before carefully reaching out to brush the black hair away from Eunsol’s forehead. Even at this small contact, Eunsol’s eyelashes lifted sharply.
This was something Hyun-oh had never done before either. Alphas typically have stronger possessiveness than betas. What he was about to do was deeply connected to an alpha’s possessiveness.
If it wasn’t Eunsol, he wouldn’t have even considered it. Though he had had many partners in the past, Hyun-oh had only ever used them to simply satisfy his accumulated instincts.
Hyun-oh gave Eunsol a choice. What he was attempting would be quite challenging for an omega. Eunsol, who was already struggling, might faint.
Hearing Hyun-oh’s words, Eunsol lowered his eyes as if considering. The shadow cast by his eyelashes on his small face flickered under the light.
“…I’m okay with it.”
Even in the quiet bedroom with just the two of them, Eunsol’s voice was so soft that one had to strain to hear it. Eunsol raised his head and rested his forehead against Hyun-oh’s collarbone.
He wanted to rest his face against Hyun-oh’s chest, but thought that space might not be permitted to him. The reason he hid his face was simple: he was worried that his face might contort uglily in pain.
Eunsol couldn’t be sure that Hyun-oh’s eyes wouldn’t fill with contempt at the sight of such a face. That would cause another wound to his barely soothed heart.
He only wanted to feel Hyun-oh’s hot breath falling on his ear and the warmth of his embrace.
He would bury in his memories the cold gaze that appeared so vividly even when he closed his eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
