SPW 34

Sarang scratched his chin, then settled down in front of his backpack. Inside the bag was a ball. It was a commemorative gift he received for his hat-trick. It wasn’t the first time he’d scored a hat-trick while playing soccer, but it was his first since his professional debut. While most people would keep it at home or donate it, Sarang had wanted to give it to Florian from the beginning. He took a permanent marker out of the backpack, removed the cap with his teeth, and thought for a long time.

Thank you, Florian.

No, that’s not it.

Thank you, Rian.

That’s not it either.

Rian…

Sarang, who had been contemplating for a while, let his hand holding the marker drop. The words “I love you” did not come as easily as they did with Colin. Could the feeling of loving a family member and the feeling of loving a guardian be this different? Sarang, who had been idly rubbing the cleanly wiped ball, picked up the marker again.

To Rian

May 20, 00

From Sarang

After writing it simply, he pursed his lips and blew on it to dry the ink.

It’s better to just leave it there quietly than to give it to him directly, right? Because it’s embarrassing.

It seems he’s away from home for his rut right now, too.

‘If you need anything, knock on my door anytime. You may enter whether I am here or not, Sarang.’

Florian had said that, but Sarang had never once done so since he started living with him. Not only when he was away, but he had never even thought of entering his room without his permission.

“…”

After a long deliberation, Sarang closed the marker cap, put it in his bag, and hugged the ball.

Just for a moment, I’ll just place the ball in front of the door. Then it’s not like I’m going in and out of Florian’s room.

Sarang, having finally finished a deliberation that would have made Florian laugh at its cuteness and absurdity, left his room with a resolute face. Then he suddenly remembered the tickling sensations in his stomach. It’s been a while, so it must have faded by now. Or, I’ll just hold my breath, quickly put the ball down, and come back.

Stepping into the hallway, Sarang briefly held his breath. Whether it was his imagination or because he wasn’t feeling well, the pheromones felt stronger than before.

Is Florian in the room? If so, why…

Florian’s pheromone control was near perfect. Unless he released them on purpose, or unless he was sick or in rut, smelling his pheromones was a remote possibility.

Is he sick?

Sarang’s head snapped up, and he walked, almost running, down the hall. He stopped in front of the door and held his breath, huff, but pheromones were not just smelled through the olfactory sense. The scent of damp earth and a clear yet sweet fig fragrance seeped into Sarang’s entire body. He couldn’t feel anything else.

After catching his breath for a moment, Sarang knocked on the door. Knock, knock. It was quiet beyond the door. Could it be that no one was there? Could it be that this thick pheromone scent was left behind so strongly in a place where a dominant omega, a dominant omega in rut, had stayed for just a moment? Sarang, who was contemplating, was just about to knock on the door again.

Click. The door opened.

“…”

“…”

A man he had never seen before was standing at the door, wearing only a single robe.

Ah.

“The famous ward?”

The moment Sarang realized his identity, the man spoke first as if he already knew.

Rut.

Florian’s rut.

Why is Florian’s rut here…

It was natural. This was Florian’s house.

Flustered, Sarang took a step back. The man, who was standing with one arm propped on the doorjamb, glanced at the ball.

“You scored a hat-trick? Did you knock on your master’s door while he’s in rut just to show that off? Selfish, and cute.”

The man, smirking, reached out to grab the ball. Sarang pulled the ball back and took a step away, but the scent of figs wafted over him. The man’s expression soured as he was hit directly by the dominant omega’s pheromones. Only then did the man’s pheromones, which Sarang hadn’t smelled or felt outside the door, brush the tip of his nose. It was the scent of coffee.

“Why did you open the door without permission?”

A cold voice came from behind the man.

“Move.”

The man, who had been holding his ground, let out a low groan at the pheromones that hit him again and made way. Florian, drenched in a cold sweat, appeared.

“Would you get the hell away from my side?”

The man, his face scrunching up at Florian’s chilly remark as he swept back his hair with a tired face, soon disappeared into the room. Florian, standing in the doorway and looking down silently at Sarang, was lightly dressed. His thin, sweat-soaked top clung to his body, revealing its contours. Feeling like he had seen something he shouldn’t have, Sarang quickly averted his gaze as a low voice fell before him.

“Why are you here, Sarang?”

It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t his usual gentle tone either. His deep, husky voice was mixed with rough breaths.

“You should be somewhere else today, Sarang.”

“…”

Florian’s pale cheeks seemed to turn even paler, and then a faint flush rose to them.

“Did you not hear from Allen?”

Florian, grasping the situation from Sarang’s silent form, frowned.

Allen, that bastard.

“Starting today, for ten days, you are forbidden from entering this house, Sarang.”

“…”

“Do you understand, Sarang?”

Only then did Sarang look up at Florian, his pitch-black eyes seeming to tremble slightly before he obediently nodded his head.

“I’m sorry, Rian.”

“You did nothing wrong, Sarang. It’s just… would you please leave this house quickly?”

Florian’s always brilliant and clear blue eyes were clouding over. He seemed to be barely holding on to his reason. Sarang wanted to hold the seemingly about-to-collapse Florian and let him lean on him, but it was not something he was permitted to do.

“All wet down there, and you’re pretending to be so rational. Future duke.”

A thick arm, belonging to the man who had appeared from behind at some point, wrapped around Florian’s stomach and pulled him sharply inside. The man, turning Florian around and roughly pressing his lips against his, glanced at Sarang. The sight was soon obscured by the closing door.

“…”

Sarang, left alone outside, stared silently at the closed door, then quietly lowered his head.

‘All wet down there.’

He hated that man who treated Florian so carelessly. He hated the man who held Florian, inhaled his pheromones, and pressed his lips against his as if to show off.

Finally, a small puddle was reflected in Sarang’s helplessly trembling black eyes. A bit of rut fluid, leaked by Florian who had overexerted himself dealing with Sarang during his rut, had pooled in the hallway.

He didn’t want to show it to anyone. He wanted to forget it as if he hadn’t seen it either. Kneeling down, Sarang pulled down his sleeve and wiped up the rut fluid. After wiping it clean without a trace, he ran down the stairs. The ball was completely erased from his mind. Sarang ran down with long strides, crossing the reception room as if he were running on a pitch.

Only Allen was in the parking garage. The reason the house was desolate today, the reason no one was to be seen, was all for Florian’s sake.

Allen, who had been humming an utterly unintelligible song with his feet up on the dashboard, grinned and opened the driver’s side window. Allen, who had put his feet down by now, showed a nonchalant reaction even after meeting Sarang’s reddened eyes.

“Did you see?”

“What… is this?”

“You should have kicked out that crappy alpha and spent the rut with him yourself.”

“Allen, are you an idiot?”

“Well, I’m not as much of a blockhead as I look.”

“That alpha is a man Rian chose and permitted. Why did you create a situation like that on your own, Allen?”

“A situation like that?”

Allen, asking even though he knew, had his thick forearm resting casually on the car window. Below his short sleeve was a large scar, befitting a mercenary. When faced with his fierce face and sharp eyes that seemed placed there as a formality, ordinary guys would falter and retreat or turn back the way they came.

But this kid had guts. He was tiny, but his temper wasn’t. He wasn’t scared of Allen or Miller in the slightest. Even when they brought him out of Kai’s villa, this kid didn’t cry or piss himself in fear.

You have to be at least this tough not to be embarrassed even if you’re on the bottom.

Tsk. Allen, clicking his tongue inwardly, looked at Sarang’s eyes, which were stretched upward in anger. His temper was truly impeccable. He deliberately provoked Sarang, who was trembling with clenched fists because of him, asking again as if to incite him.

“What do you mean, a situation like that?”

“A situation Rian didn’t want.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Rian is my guardian. He’s my protector, and he said he would introduce me to a dominant omega himself when I become an adult. And I’m a minor. It’s illegal for Rian to spend a rut with me. It would be an indelible insult to Rian. I don’t want to be Rian’s insult. I don’t want to be Rian’s shame. I don’t want to be… to Rian…”

Tears fell, plop plop, and soon soaked Sarang’s face. Sarang covered his eyes with the back of his arm and made no crying sounds. Standing perfectly still, Sarang dropped his head, and tears that pooled at the tip of his chin fell ceaselessly.

In the distance, insects chirped, chirr, and the bright sunlight settled on Sarang’s young nape. The sunlight, having changed direction at some point, had deeply invaded the inside of the parking garage.