JADE 16

Since everyone was an athlete with their own schedules, drinking was optional. Seeing Kwon Joowan order a somaek, Jin Sejun held out his own glass. The thought of drinking together almost brought back the scent of whiskey from the day he was rejected, so he downed the first glass in one go.

The head director, who had apparently been up almost all night checking the open class materials the day before, was the first to drop out, despite having excitedly picked the restaurant. The coaches, except for the omega with the last name Hong, also had their own schedules and got up to leave after a reasonable amount of time.

“Um… then should we call it a night around here?”

He had shared three bottles of beer and one bottle of soju with Kwon Joowan, so he was still far from his limit.

‘Even though there’s a beta here, it’s a bit much to drink more with an omega present.’

Regardless of how his own pheromones worked, Jin Sejun was a rather gentlemanly alpha (in his own opinion) and believed in nipping any potential for trouble in the bud.

It was uncertain if he would have held the same stance had the omega felt attracted to Jin Sejun’s pheromones.

“It’s such a shame… Jun-teacher, do you have plans tomorrow?”

“Me?”

The sparkling eyes looking up at him with a flushed face were so obvious it was cute. Even without experience, he hadn’t wasted his years, as he could read these signs quite well. No, he was used to being liked, so it had nothing to do with experience.

Should I just give up on the fruit I can’t have and switch over?

But if he took off his clothes and they were exposed to my pheromones, they would probably gag and eventually run away. It was obvious he would get rejected in a way that was even more nerve-wracking than with Kwon Joowan.

Jin Sejun’s darting eyes met Kwon Joowan’s. The man who had been silently mixing drinks while the head director praised Jin Sejun to the skies was now looking this way with piercing eyes.

“Didn’t you say you have to get up early tomorrow, Mr. Sejun…?”

“Really?”

Get up early tomorrow? Since when?

Jin Sejun refuted it in his head but nodded as if mesmerized. It was the weekend, so he was planning to wake up around nine, which was indeed early by his hospital-working standards.

But why was Kwon Joowan… no, if an alpha and an omega hit it off at work, even Jin Sejun would feel like shit, so it wasn’t that he couldn’t understand. Of course, if he were in a position where dating between different dynamic types was possible, he would have been in favor.

In any case, he had given up, but every little action of Coach Hong, who was pouting his lips, was adorable.

‘They must be popular. If only I were ten years younger.’

It wasn’t that Jin Sejun was seriously considering the age issue; it was because of the pheromone problem. Why, there are plenty of old-timer alpha and fresh omega couples.

Ah, it really was a shame. Are there any alphas who could let go of a fresh omega whose eyes were sparkling for them?

As both Jin Sejun and Coach Hong hesitated as if their feet were stuck to the ground, Kwon Joowan took Coach Hong outside and put him in a taxi. Coach Hong waved through the car window until the very end.

“Jon-teacher, Jun-teacher, see you on Monday!”

“Bye.”

“…Haaah.”

A hot sigh escaped Jin Sejun’s lips due to the alcohol that had subtly crept up on him. He hadn’t drunk much, so it would wear off soon, but he couldn’t ignore Kwon Joowan standing next to him instead of going on his way.

“Why are you giving me the side-eye? Not going home?”

“Want to go for a second round?”

“You and me?”

“Yes.”

There were so many things he wanted to say that no words came out at all. Jin Sejun’s lips just moved up and down before he finally managed to spit out a single phrase.

“Are you drunk?”

“No, it’s just that we didn’t get to talk much.”

“You’re pretty shameless, Mr. Kwon Joowan.”

“A person has to be shameless sometimes.”

What? Jin Sejun gaped for a moment before managing to get the words out.

“A second round is out of the question. Let’s just have one can each from the convenience store and go.”

“…It’s cold.”

“I saw you coming here in a jersey when it was ten degrees below zero, you know?”

“Ha.”

Is he really drunk? As Jin Sejun watched him with narrowed eyes, Kwon Joowan nonchalantly pointed at an outdoor table some distance away.

“Let’s go over there. It’s a good thing it’s much warmer today, though. Ah, of course, the glaciers melting is a huge problem.”

“I think you’re drunk. You’re a lightweight, aren’t you?”

“I’m not drunk.”

From what I could see, he didn’t seem drunk either, but no matter how you looked at it, his actions were strange. He seemed oddly excited, just like… that day of the whiskey and hotel incident.

Then again, he said he hadn’t been drinking back then either.

‘Somehow, this feels ominous.’

When he handed him a low-alcohol, fruit-flavored drink, Kwon Joowan showed he was reluctant but accepted it obediently.

As he was about to open the pull tab, Kwon Joowan, who had gotten a napkin from somewhere, wiped the part where his mouth would touch and handed it over. Their fingers brushed over the can for a meaningfully long time.

“……”

As Kwon Joowan had said, perhaps because spring was just around the corner, it was much warmer.

…Still, you shouldn’t let your guard down, as the weather in early spring is fickle and can suddenly turn bitingly cold. If you think spring has fully arrived just because of a brief warm spell, you’ll get a harsh slap in the face.

Jin Sejun took a big gulp and asked pointedly.

“What did you want to talk about so badly that you insisted we drink, just the two of us?”

“…I was, um…. I was happy that you tried to learn about cheerleading seriously, Mr. Sejun.”

“I didn’t listen so hard just to make you happy, though?”

He couldn’t help it; if he didn’t put up a fight, he felt like the corners of his mouth would turn up. Jin Sejun chugged his beer, conscious of his face trying to relax foolishly.

“But you still probably don’t know what my event is. That was bothering me.”

“Hold on.”

Is he seriously going to explain it here? Are you planning to give the alpha whose ‘something’ with you ended a hard-on out on the street?

Stopping Kwon Joowan, Jin Sejun shot up and went into the convenience store. Then he came back with a pack of cigarettes, which he couldn’t even remember when he’d quit.

“You smoked?”

“A long time ago. Go on, tell me. Your event.”

Thanks to him, I’ve failed at quitting smoking for the first time in years. No, at this point, it’s not really a failure to quit, just incredibly intermittent smoking. Jin Sejun stood a good distance away from Kwon Joowan, pretending to be considerate.

“You’re so far away, it would be better to call you than to talk from here….”

“Should I call you?”

“That’s not it.”

Making his effort to keep a distance pointless, Kwon Joowan came and stood right behind Jin Sejun’s back. Wondering what he was doing, Jin Sejun shot him a sideways glance. Kwon Joowan politely held the can with both hands and took his first sip.

‘What is this? Why is he acting cute?’

If he let his mind wander, he felt like he might touch Kwon Joowan’s butt or something again. To keep his sanity, Jin Sejun stared straight ahead and asked gruffly.

“I guess you’re not on a diet these days? You even suggested we drink first.”

“A diet? Ah, back then….”

“Were you on a diet for cheerleading?”

“That’s not it.”

Hm? Then is there a reason to lose weight? Didn’t he say he lost weight because of his workout? Jin Sejun forgot about trying to avoid Kwon Joowan and turned back to look at him with a puzzled face.

“Then a body profile? A lot of people do those.”

“I could never do something like that.”

Here comes the low self-esteem Kwon Joowan.Did this bastard go on a diet on his own because he heard someone say he was fat?

However, it would be difficult for anyone to have a body as good as the man in front of him. He hadn’t stripped him bare, but he looked like he could easily land an underwear ad.

His physical specs were top-tier, even for an alpha, yet he was a beta and such a timid person. Thinking about it, he did seem a bit lacking, which made him feel pity. Jin Sejun pouted his lips as if to console Kwon Joowan.

“I don’t get why people do that either. They say they want to preserve their image at their youngest and most beautiful, but then why upload it everywhere when they could just print out the photos and stick them in an album to look at by themselves.”

No? In reality, whenever someone posted one, he always appreciated it with the mindset of, what a magnificent view. He even sometimes searched for ‘#bodyprofile’ and followed those who were his type.

Of course, his scoffing at ‘preserving oneself at one’s youngest and most beautiful’ was his true feeling, born from his unwavering belief that he himself would always be handsome and have a good body.

Kwon Joowan, who had only been listening to the lengthy criticism, answered with a slightly troubled expression.

“Well, a student in my class was having a really hard time losing weight, so I did it with them.”

“Ah.”

So it was a very wholesome and respectable reason? Jin Sejun’s cheeks slowly turned red. The cigarette, which he was smoking after far too long, didn’t taste as good as it used to, so he put it out halfway. To hide his embarrassment, he asked curtly.

“So, what is your event that a student has to lose weight for it? Pom dance didn’t seem like something you have to be skinny for.”

“Ah, my event is… stunting.”

“Stunting? Like movie stunts?”

“You can understand it in that sense. Have you ever seen an American teen movie with cheerleaders?”

“No….”

“Then, cheerleaders throwing and catching people?”

“Not at all.”

For some reason, the fact that he couldn’t give a single affirmative answer to the follow-up questions made him feel guilty. He didn’t want to disappoint Kwon Joowan.

…But Kwon Joowan had already disappointed Jin Sejun immensely!

“A toss-up?” Jin Sejun asked back in a dumb tone.

Kwon Joowan replied calmly.

“Um, so…. There’s something called stunt cheer, separate from performance cheer. You throw people high up and catch them, or do tumbling.”

“There’s something like that? If they threw and caught you, Jon-teacher, I think your bones would break.”

When he asked back, fiddling with the extinguished cigarette, Kwon Joowan licked his lower lip and then wiped his face with one hand. Jin Sejun savored that series of actions in 0.0001-second intervals.

“I’m obviously the one doing the throwing and catching…. It’s a role that can change fluidly, but to divide it simply, there are flyers, bases, and tumblers. The one being thrown is the flyer. They’re often betas or omegas. I’m a base, and I also do tumbling. People who do both stunting and tumbling like that are sometimes called stumblers.”

Flyer, base, tumbler? Those sound like tools, an instrument, and a cup.

Of course, he didn’t want to be despised, nor did he want to annoy Kwon Joowan right now, so he just thought this to himself. Kwon Joowan, focused on his explanation, didn’t notice that Jin Sejun had briefly drifted into his own thoughts.

“If it’s omegas, two bases support, but in events mixed with alphas, there’s one base. I was the base in that situation…. Someone of my build is usually a base, and the student who was losing weight was a flyer. Of course, the strength and balance of both sides are also important, but….”

“You were the base in a situation mixed with alphas?”

Kwon Joowan’s eyes blinked slowly. The answer to the question, which he had thrown out without much thought, came out strangely slowly.

“Yes. Betas get put here and there depending on their body type and strength.”