NAME 63

As a familiar black sedan came into view, Seowon reflexively steadied his breathing. It wasn’t that he was particularly out of breath, but he composed his respiration just in case it had become disarrayed and swept aside the stray hairs fluttering over his forehead.

His heart always beat fast whenever he walked toward the man waiting for him inside the car with dark tinting. Today, of course, was no exception.

“Good morning.”

Click. He opened the passenger side door and offered a greeting to the figure inside. The refreshing scent that stimulated his sense of smell caused his painstakingly steadied breath to falter slightly. As Alpha pheromones soaked every corner of his lungs, which were inflated like balloons, Seowon’s eyes quickly grew moist.

“Good morning.”

It was a relief that the interior of the car was dim. It was shameful to show him eyes full of moisture first thing in the morning.

His face, which Seowon saw every day, was handsomely perfect today to a spiteful degree. His pheromones, mixed with a faint scent of cologne, enveloped Seowon as he sat in the passenger seat.

As the days went by, his pheromones felt more ecstatic—to the point where Seowon wanted to bury his nose in the man’s neck and stay there all day.

Seowon pulled loosely at his tie, feeling stifled by the heat already rising in his neck.

“… .”

It was by no means an action intended to provoke Baek Kanghyun, yet the man gave a faint smile and snatched Seowon’s wrist, pulling him closer. Ah. As a small gasp left Seowon’s lips, the man’s fingers wrapped over his mouth and his other hand coiled around his nape like a claw. His strength pulling Seowon toward him was neither too strong nor too weak, but just right, so Seowon was drawn to him without any resistance until their foreheads met.

“Since you do this every day, why do you even bother wearing a tie?”

“Still, I’m coming to work, so how could I not wear one…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the man’s lips touched his briefly and then pulled away. It was a kiss too ticklish to be shared between mere partners.

Having pressed his lips against Seowon’s repeatedly as if testing the waters, the man spoke in a whisper. To open his mouth, to stick out his tongue.

Just before the tip of Seowon’s bright red tongue could peek out, a thick tongue forced its way past his lips and gently scraped the underside of his tongue. Huuu-ng. As Seowon let out a nasal moan, the man’s hand dug into his hair.

While they tilted their faces and intertwined their tongues with lips overlapping, Baek Kanghyun completely loosened Seowon’s tie and even undid his shirt buttons. As Seowon’s sweet body scent, subtly mixed with the smell of fabric softener, began to rise, the man slid his hand inside Seowon’s shirt collar and felt around his collarbone.

“It tickles.”

“Does it?”

The man acted heatedly from the morning. After thoroughly searching the inside of Seowon’s mouth, his tongue swept down his chin and settled on his nape. Passing over the muscles clearly protruding on his neck, the man’s lips reached the burning collarbone and repeatedly left stamps there. While performing caresses that one would only do between lovers, he breathed as roughly as a wild beast.

“Team Leader, stop now.”

“Endure it just a little longer.”

Seowon’s scent, which had been merely sweet, became even richer. This was a fact that both Seowon and Baek Kanghyun noticed.

Baek Kanghyun licked and bit the skin where the fragrance was strongest. Like a perfume that smells different depending on the day’s condition, Seowon was the same. Even though they did this every day, he felt different from moment to moment. There was never a dull moment.

“Don’t bite there.”

Seowon pushed against his shoulders with his hands. Even though he knew the man’s wicked nature—how he acted even more persistently when told not to—Seowon tried to stop him every time. However, there was no strength in his hands, which were limp from being drunk on pheromones, and as expected, Baek Kanghyun instead poured out his pheromones to the fullest.

Seowon’s legs narrowed at the chill that sent shivers through his entire body. However, Baek Kanghyun’s hand was already staying between them. He smiled suggestively while rubbing the front of Seowon’s trousers, which had risen prominently.

“It’s standing here; shall I suck it for you?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Why? You like it.”

The suggestive smile and the low voice—everything was terribly lewd. A whirlwind of depravity rushed over him at the very fact that they were doing this in the morning, and in the company parking lot at that.

The man, who had been obsessed with Seowon’s nape, raised his head again and overlapped their lips. He pushed in his pheromones as if exploring the mouth where the sweet taste had intensified.

Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep…

At 8:50 AM, the alarm went off. Seowon had set it to signal that they must end the pheromone exchange now. Actually, alarms were also set for 55 minutes and 58 minutes. Because Baek Kanghyun had been dragging things out too much every morning lately, he had intentionally set several.

“Damn it.”

Baek Kanghyun, who knew well what the sound signified, muttered irritably. Then, huuu-uk, he exhaled a sharp breath right over Seowon’s lips.

Having slowly backed away, he leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. Seowon also sat upright in the passenger seat, tidied his disheveled clothes, and took a handkerchief from his pocket. He firmly dabbed and wiped his lips and chin, which were covered in saliva. He also stroked his chest as if to soothe his heart, which was thumping as if it would tear through his thoracic wall. His body, drenched in Alpha pheromones, beat like a drum.

“I’ll head up first.”

He barely spoke after catching his breath. Baek Kanghyun slowly lifted his eyelids and gave a faint smile. It was neither a sneer nor a smirk, but just a meaningless smile; yet Seowon heard his heart drop with a thump.

“Diligent as always.”

It had already been nearly three months since he became pheromone partners with him. Waking up 30 minutes earlier than before to meet Baek Kanghyun, receive pheromones, and go up to the office had become completely ingrained in his routine. His body, which received the pheromones of a dominant Alpha every morning, now grew anxious if it didn’t receive them for even a single day. Seowon sought him out for fear that he might again develop a fever or leak pheromones at every turn like before. It was as if he were addicted.

“I’m just being careful. Nothing good comes from rumors spreading.”

Seowon spoke in a voice that was as calm as possible. If a rumor spread in the company that the two of them were in that kind of relationship, they would be on everyone’s lips. That would be a headache. Furthermore, the reputation he had built up until now would collapse in an instant… However, what bothered him more than his reputation was Baek Kanghyun’s attitude, which had clearly changed after the business trip to Busan.

Their relationship lately was too subtle to be called a simple partnership. Was this what all relationships accompanied by sleeping together were like? With Jaehwan, even if they kissed, they could maintain a relationship similar to friends, but it wasn’t like that with Baek Kanghyun. Seven years ago and now, the only word to describe the relationship between him and himself was “sex partner,” but back then and now were so very different.

“Jeong Seowon, you really…”

It is closer and more persistent.

And Baek Kanghyun, who once didn’t even know his name, now calls Seowon by name. Is this really a simple pheromone partner? If this is a partner, then what was I in the past? Two questions bounced alternately like ping-pong balls inside Seowon’s head.

“What about me?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Unlike Seowon, who was always hesitating and cautious, Baek Kanghyun lunged at Seowon without hesitation. He holds his hand, wraps an arm around his waist, presses their chests together, and kisses him. Sex with him these days always started that way. At least once a week, and at most three or four times, Seowon was sharing his body with him. The location was always the man’s house. Spending time with their bodies overlapping in a proper bed—rather than in an empty classroom or a car like before—had become another part of Seowon’s daily life.

“…There will be personnel changes soon.”

However, as Seowon was about to get out of the car, the man pulled him lightly and brought up an unexpected topic. It was a well-known fact to Seowon that there were quarterly personnel changes.

“What about it?”

He recalled when he had discovered Baek Kanghyun’s name in the personnel announcement for the second quarter. On that very day when he thought his heart would stop, Seowon met the cruel fate of reuniting with the bastard. But why was he suddenly bringing up personnel matters? Around the time the word ‘perhaps’ was dangling at the tip of his lips, Baek Kanghyun began to speak in a quite serious tone.

“An executive position suddenly became vacant.”

His vision wavered significantly for a moment. He remembered hearing a glimpse of it a few days ago—a rumor that one of the directors had been kicked out for corruption.

Inside his constricted ribcage, his fist-sized heart pounded vigorously. Thump-thump, thump-thump. Like an involuntary muscle, it quickened its beat of its own accord.

Seowon pressed his hand firmly against his chest and focused his gaze on the man’s lips.

“And I’ve ended up filling that spot.”

A small gasp escaped his parted mouth. That meant Baek Kanghyun was leaving Sales Team 3. To be promoted to director after only half a year as team leader—his promotion as a close associate of the chairman was already expected, but it was too fast. Then, Baek Kanghyun suddenly pointed it out in a sharp tone and stroked Seowon’s face.

“Is it that shocking?”

Only then did Seowon realize his face had frozen stiffly. So he immediately relaxed his expression.

“Ah, no, it’s just.”

With his brow deeply furrowed, the man glared at Seowon. The question of whether they should end the partner relationship then tapped against his throat. If he didn’t have to see him in the office, there would be no need to manage his pheromones. Since his pheromones started acting up upon meeting him, once the cause disappeared, his body might return to a state that was more or less bearable as before.

However, for some reason, instead of that question, other words flew out.

“Congratu-lations.”