JADE 52

When he came out with a slightly flushed face, Kwon Joowan’s hair was also wet, as if he had just finished showering. The color had returned to his deathly pale face from when he had just woken up, making his cheeks and lips all look luscious.

And the tongue visible whenever he opened his mouth…

‘I’m going to die.’

Even more dazed than before he had washed up, Kwon Joowan didn’t notice Jin Sejun looking at him with a sticky gaze. He simply rubbed his thickly bandaged forearms together with a foolish expression.

It was almost laughable that this clueless guy was the same person who had been pinning him down and panting like crazy for the past few days. How did he manage to shower with both arms bandaged? Jin Sejun considered saying he should have helped, but he lacked the confidence to say it plainly, so he kept his mouth shut.

As he sat at the dining table and looked around anew, the red sunset was dyeing the inside of the room. For some reason, he had naturally assumed it would be a high floor, but it seemed to be a high-end residential area that wasn’t particularly high up.

“Is it too bright? Should I close the shutters?”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

He remembered every meal he’d had at restaurants during the trip being salty and the desserts being far too sweet, so he hesitated before taking his first bite. However, the vegetable soup and simple white fish dish that Kwon Joowan had chosen gently filled his empty stomach.

The meal was quiet, but not uncomfortable.

‘Waking up just as the sun is setting… I guess I won’t have any trouble adjusting to the time difference when I get back to Korea.’

After quickly finishing even the dessert, he checked his phone. There was only a message from his second-oldest brother telling him to get in touch about when he was coming back once he came to his senses (no one usually bothered Jin Sejun with trivial messages), but it seemed Kwon Joowan had handled it well.

The previous message was from the package tour leader.

010—XXXX—XXXX : Excuse me, did you mean to write that it’s a traits-related issue? If we don’t receive a reply by tomorrow morning, we will assume so and inform the hotel.

010—XXXX—XXXX : Our package includes traits-related insurance, so it’s possible for us to assist with booking your return flight. Please contact the local guide at this number.

010—XXXX—XXXX : There will be no additional cost.

‘Hmm?’

He thought it might be a reply regarding what Kwon Joowan had handled, but come to think of it, Jin Sejun had also sent a message to the tour leader in his confused state. However, the message he had sent was a mess, just like the one he sent Kwon Joowan after that long-ago company dinner.

Fortunately, the tour leader seemed quick on the uptake, and it appeared Kwon Joowan had handled things separately from the travel agency. To have it all sorted out so smoothly during peak season… money really was nice.

But how could there be no additional cost? It’s not like they were running a charity.

People might assume Jin Sejun was an alpha and had gone into rut, but wouldn’t they find it strange that he was with Kwon Joowan, a beta?

“……”

Wait a minute.

Just now, and during the night, there were many facts he had shut his mind off to whenever his thoughts started to deepen. A beta talking so specifically about heat suppressants? No matter how common it was to find people with traits in the world, it wasn’t something a person would bring up immediately unless they were one themselves.

Moreover, to say he only knew about heat because he used to date an omega, Kwon Joowan’s knowledge of traits and pheromones was abnormally deep, and so was his animosity toward alphas.

Was he mistaken? About it feeling like Kwon Joowan had knotted inside the pants he had so stubbornly kept on?

Kwon Joowan was still eating his dessert slowly, as if he were not fully awake. Below the white bandages wrapped around his forearms, his hands with their protruding knuckles were visible. It wasn’t the first or second time he’d seen those hands, so it would be stranger if they were unfamiliar, but even so… they were too familiar.

Just like the suppressed moans that had triggered a sense of déjà vu.

It was the moment Jin Sejun, after staring at Kwon Joowan for a long while, opened his social media to look at the ‘Beta’ account. Kwon Joowan walked towards the coffee machine behind Jin Sejun. In that time, Jin Sejun, having confirmed ‘Beta’s’ hands and genitals on mute, looked back at Kwon Joowan.

He was looking down at Jin Sejun, or more precisely, at his phone screen, still holding the cup.

“……”

Kwon Joowan, who said he posts masturbation videos… And the alpha who runs the ‘Beta’ account.

An alpha pretending to be a beta.

And Jin Sejun’s rut, with pheromones like an omega’s.

“Do you have any meds?”

“…What kind of meds?”

“Heat suppressants.”

Ah, fuck…

‘I think he just saw my phone screen.’

Did he really see it? This time, he refreshed the page so Kwon Joowan couldn’t see, but suddenly, a message popped up saying the account did not exist.

In Kwon Joowan’s other hand, the one not holding the cup, was a phone.

With that, it was certain.

He would have desperately denied reality even with such clear circumstantial evidence, so if Kwon Joowan hadn’t deleted the account, he wouldn’t have been so sure so quickly. This was because he still couldn’t sense anything from Kwon Joowan that an alpha would have.

Also, if he were a discernible alpha, it would have been difficult for Jin Sejun to be so swept away by pleasure during the night, feelings of attraction aside.

…However, it did explain why Kwon Joowan went crazy over Jin Sejun’s pheromones.

“…Mr. Kwon Joowan, were you an alpha?”

“……”

“I don’t know why I can’t sense your pheromones, but you’re an alpha, nonetheless.”

It felt like a very long time since he had seen the ever-so-talkative Kwon Joowan, the Kwon Joowan who never loses a bullshit battle, speak so fluently. They say silence is affirmation, and this was the first time he had agreed with that sentiment so strongly.

How ridiculous must he have sounded all this time, going on and on about alphas? Did he run from the hotel in the first place because he thought Jin Sejun was an omega? He was in an alpha-omega couple with Ahn Saeha, so shouldn’t it have been a good thing if he thought Jin Sejun was an omega?

Kwon Joowan is an alpha… Kwon Joowan is ‘Beta’…!

He remembered thinking shortly after they met that he wanted to see Kwon Joowan masturbate like ‘Beta’. Could his sixth sense have been at work? A superpower that only activates for lewd things… how absurd.

Does Kwon Joowan have no pheromones at all? Jin Sejun also had a problem with his pheromones, so there was no rule saying everyone else’s pheromones had to be perfectly fine.

In any case, what was certain was that Kwon Joowan, an alpha, had endured while holding an omega in heat (or someone who could be mistaken for one) in his arms.

“…You really are something else.”

“……”

As Kwon Joowan met Jin Sejun’s gaze, his face gradually darkened until he looked like a person about to waste away and die. The fact that he didn’t offer a single word of excuse was absurd, yet it also felt like him.

But what do I even know about Kwon Joowan?

This bastard, pretending to be a poor beta stuck between alphas, and he was an alpha all along. Was his hatred for alphas a form of self-loathing? Is that why he pretended to be a beta?

He felt like laughing at Kwon Joowan’s tightly guarded secret, but the thought that the catalyst for its discovery was his own broken pheromones made him want to cry.

Fuck, to think he was ‘Beta.’ To think he was a guy who actually jerked off and posted videos… It’s a small world. Since Jin Sejun had also identified Kwon Joowan, it meant he’d been caught having thoroughly enjoyed his masturbation videos.

As he slowly rose from the dining table, Kwon Joowan’s gaze followed him.

“Wow, the more I think about it, the more hardcore you are. But.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m suddenly very sleepy.”

It was truly an absurdly timed moment, but an overwhelming drowsiness washed over him. Had he thought he wouldn’t have trouble with jet lag when he got back? Although he hadn’t been able to enjoy the trip consistently, to think he’d end up wasting the extra time Kwon Joowan had earned for them like this.

“You must be tired.”

Kwon Joowan chimed in, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Well, it was plausible that he’d be tired after spending a rut, which he usually got through vaguely by taking some medicine and jerking off a bit, in such a stimulating way. Given that his condition hadn’t been good since he woke up, he might even be coming down with something.

Kwon Joowan’s secret was also quite a big deal, so maybe he used up a lot of energy processing it. Kwon Joowan followed him, maintaining a three-step distance, and finished brushing his teeth as well.

When Jin Sejun sat on the bed, Kwon Joowan stopped at the bedroom threshold.

“I’ll be in that room over there…”

“We woke up in the same bed, what’s the big deal? The bed is big and the sheets are freshly changed, so it’s comfortable.”

“Then, good night…”

Kwon Joowan, who was trying to flee, was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Jin Sejun. Jin Sejun prattled on, trying hard not to reveal his anxiety.

“The daily temperature range is quite large. I really hate getting into an empty bed when it’s cold. The warmth-less covers feel especially cold.”

“……”

“You even covered me with a towel while we were traveling. I get cold really easily.”

Kwon Joowan remained turned away.

“I was so weak just now I was groaning and throwing up. If you abandon me, Mr. Joowan, I might get really sick, don’t you think? That would complicate things in a foreign country. And also.”

Kwon Joowan’s upper body slowly turned, revealing his side profile.

“I just want to keep you a little close, Mr. Joowan.”

“Ah…”

“It’s not like I’m thinking about, you know, lewd things. I just like having someone else in the bed… The inside of the covers is warm.”

Just as he was about to add, ‘Warm me up a little,’ Kwon Joowan slowly approached. He thought he had persuaded him well, but as expected, he had a grim look on his face, as if Jin Sejun had thrown a noose around him and dragged him over.

“You endured a heat cycle so tenaciously, what’s the big deal about sharing a blanket that you’re playing so hard to get?”

“Haa.”

As Kwon Joowan lay down beside him, he could feel the mattress springs bearing the heavy weight through his back. Kwon Joowan pulled the covers over Jin Sejun, who had let out an involuntary “heh heh,” then turned his back and curled up.

“…Go to sleep.”

It really is easier to bear the chill of the blankets when someone is next to you. Jin Sejun watched Kwon Joowan’s back, then stealthily moved his body closer.

He was on the verge of succumbing to a torrent of sleep that washed over him, leaving behind any excitement or strange worries. Suddenly, Jin Sejun’s eyes flew open and he exclaimed.

“That’s it, the reason I only get weak in front of you was all because of the pheromones!”

Eureka! The word might have been different, but wasn’t the tone probably just like this? But until his pheromones became like this, he had never been intimidated in a pheromone battle with another alpha brat. So, he felt he might have to admit that he had been mindful of Kwon Joowan or did certain things simply because he liked him.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Kwon Joowan’s expression was not good, but then he pulled the blanket up over Jin Sejun’s shoulders.

“Sleep. We’ll think about the rest tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Around the time Jin Sejun, who had answered obediently, began to breathe evenly again, Kwon Joowan stretched one leg out of the bed. Jin Sejun, who had seemed to be sound asleep, muttered.

“If you run away again, this time I’ll chase you to the other side of the world and kill you.”

“…Okay.”

“Seriously, don’t run away.”

“I won’t go, so…”

Even if he ran away now, it would only be to the next bedroom, but Jin Sejun, drunk on sleep, seemed to truly think Kwon Joowan would return to Korea alone, as he wrapped both arms around his waist. It was an act meant to restrain him, but it also felt strangely like he was trying to be cute.

“……”

Kwon Joowan’s plan had been to go to the other room once Jin Sejun fell asleep. But as he waited for the man clinging to him like a baby koala to fall asleep, listening to his breathing, his own breath slowed in tandem, and sleepiness washed over him.

After all, it had been a difficult few days for Kwon Joowan as well. ‘Let’s think about it tomorrow…’ Kwon Joowan mulled over the words he had used to soothe Jin Sejun earlier and focused on the body heat beside him.

The inside of the blankets was truly warm.