JADE 58

“The travel agency for the package Mr. Sejun bought belongs to my family, so I sort of forced my way in. So maybe… when you thought you saw someone who vaguely resembled me while traveling, that was probably me too.”

As Jin Sejun, who was wondering what kind of crazy nonsense he was spouting, stared with wide eyes, Kwon Joowan met his gaze for a very brief moment before immediately dropping his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I really won’t appear before you again from now on….”

“What, what…”

Why are the cause and effect like this? What kind of bullshit is this? He wanted to question him about a thousand times, but he only grabbed him by the collar, unable to speak. Since Jin Sejun’s apartment was on a high floor, the elevator was still passing the middle floors.

Jin Sejun took a deep breath and tried to ask calmly.

“First of all, why did you follow me to Spain?”

“Because you suddenly disappeared, Mr. Sejun.”

“Do you like me?”

“…I was worried.”

This son of a bitch? The hand gripping his collar tightened even more.

“Are you a stalker?”

“I’m sorry.”

What kind of frustrating madman is this? Jin Sejun wanted to tear his hair out and scream or beat Kwon Joowan senseless. But right now, he had to ask what he was really curious about.

“You were that worried, but you don’t like me? Why the hell won’t you date me?”

“I can never seriously date an alpha or an omega.”

“……”

When he said it like that, there was nothing left to say. Jin Sejun, who was neither alpha nor omega but also both alpha and omega, couldn’t argue any further without becoming a beta.

Still.

“Just saying you can’t date a trait-user is enough… You’re trying to live your life so conveniently.”

“That’s not it, I’m not someone Mr. Sejun should date with the future in mind.”

“No, then am I some great person who should be looked up to? You’re so frustrating, can’t we just try dating? As if dating is some huge project, what’s with all this talk about the future…. Even a probationary period is three months, and the time we’ve spent together doesn’t even add up to three months.”

He ended up being quite clingy because he really couldn’t understand what Kwon Joowan was spouting….

The elevator had already arrived at Jin Sejun’s floor, but neither of them tried to get off first. It would have been a funny sight if someone had called the elevator from another floor, but luckily, they were able to continue their conversation in the stopped elevator.

Kwon Joowan hesitated as if searching for words, then finally spat out a single phrase.

“Because we’re not a good match…”

“Not a good match.”

He acted like a guy with low self-esteem, and now he’s just saying they’re not a good match? Well, if he even owns a travel agency, his family might be well-off, so it could be that kind of issue. It was even a bit refreshing, since things like wealth had never been missing from Jin Sejun’s sphere of activity.

A coach of a minor sport who pretends to be a beta because he has some issues with his pheromones and mental state is the young master of a rich family…. It makes sense that he wouldn’t be willing to date a man who pretends to be an alpha but whose appearance and speech are just that of an alpha, would it?

But he just asked to try dating, who asked him to promise marriage…. However, his pride was already hurt as much as it could be, so he didn’t want to cling to that extent.

“I see…. I’ve been rejected several times, so frankly, I’m used to it, but I didn’t want to hear the reason. So you followed me under the pretext of carrying my luggage to tell me this. You’ve done something useless.”

“…I’m sorr—”

“Stop apologizing. No, don’t say anything at all. Whatever you say doesn’t make sense, so I can’t understand it. Or maybe I’m seriously stupid.”

“It’s my problem, not yours, Mr. Sejun.”

“That’s not for you to decide alone. Let’s say we were swept away by pheromones, but if this was the case, why did we go running together, why did we have a picnic, why did you follow me to Spain, and why…”

“……”

Kwon Joowan’s silence was heavy. Since he had never said the right thing at a time like this, Jin Sejun decided to give up hope.

It was when he pressed the open button on the elevator and took a step out. Kwon Joowan’s casual tone hit the back of Jin Sejun’s head.

“…It would be difficult to be together forever, but I can spend just your cycles with you.”

“What did you say?”

“If you won’t regret it, Mr. Sejun.”

“……”

“This is the best I could come up with after thinking about it…. If your condition worsening wasn’t because of my pheromones, and if you don’t mind, Mr. Sejun, I thought it might be okay sometimes. Because you seem strong unlike other omegas, whether it’s due to experience or just being born that way.”

If this was the best he could do, it would have been better to say nothing at all. Kwon Joowan stopped as if bound by Jin Sejun’s gaze, then opened his mouth again.

“…My greed is probably too much. For someone like me to make such a request to a person who introduced himself as an alpha in the first place…”

Before he could finish his words, Jin Sejun turned and headed for his apartment.

The sound of following footsteps came soon after, and Jin Sejun gauged the distance between them by it. Three steps, two steps, one step…. The moment Kwon Joowan caught up, Jin Sejun spun around and threw a heavy punch.

Gag.

A single punch to the solar plexus melted away months of pent-up frustration. As soon as Kwon Joowan bent over, clutching his stomach, a kick to his shin made him collapse.

“You’re terrible, Kwon Joowan. You’re the one who’s sick and tired. Not as an alpha or a beta, but just the human being named Kwon Joowan…”

“……”

“Ha… let’s stop, fucking seriously.”

He himself didn’t know what he meant by ‘let’s stop’ when he was the one unilaterally swearing at and beating him up, but anyway, if he looked at Kwon Joowan any longer, he felt like he would really resort to violence until his anger subsided. After all, the alpha species had a beastly side to them.

‘This is ridiculous.’

But as Jin Sejun placed his fingerprint on the door lock, the image of Kwon Joowan enduring the pain flickered before his eyes. Did I hit a vital spot too hard?

Moreover, the thought of what it would be like to spend just his cycles with him suddenly reared its head. Wasn’t the beginning of their relationship when Kwon Pervert, who used to upload masturbation videos, and Jin Pervert, who used to masturbate to those videos, were about to have a one-night stand?

It fell through back then, but this time, the meal was almost cooked. Because Kwon Joowan was an alpha, he liked Jin Sejun’s pheromones, and because Kwon Joowan’s pheromones were scentless, Jin Sejun also didn’t feel any repulsion.

It wasn’t that he had no pheromones, just no scent, but the fact that they didn’t overtly provoke aggressiveness or discomfort lowered the bar tremendously. If it weren’t for someone as flawed as this, Jin Sejun would never date an alpha.

After being rejected by the beta Kwon Joowan before, he had even tried to date other betas. That all ended in failure too, so would there be another partner for him in his life?

It seems unlikely.

But a person has their pride, how could he bite at that right away? Jin Sejun often acted like a dog, but he wasn’t a fool who just panted for food, crazed with hunger.

That’s it, let’s shake it off. Once he closes the door, he won’t have to see Kwon Joowan anymore. Without Kwon Joowan, Jin Sejun wouldn’t have to break down more than necessary. And if a person was going to become pathetic, he wanted to do it only at home.

“Haa…”

As soon as he closed the front door, a sense of exhaustion washed over Jin Sejun, and he tried to lean against the door. But just before the door lock automatically engaged, the front door was thrown open from the outside.

“Gasp…!”

Losing his balance for a moment, Jin Sejun fell backward, and Kwon Joowan caught him lightly. The look in his eyes from above, even though it was broad daylight and not at all eerie, sent a shiver down his spine.

“What are you doing now…”

“Can’t… I?”

Kwon Joowan’s throat seemed completely dry, and his voice came out rough and cracked. Was it just Jin Sejun’s wishful thinking that it sounded desperate? But Kwon Joowan asked again, as if for confirmation.

“Can’t I? Even if all my conditions don’t suit you, Mr. Sejun, would it be presumptuous to be greedy just once every few months?”

“What…?”

“I’ll be careful with contraception. Here, I always carry condoms with me too. I have enough self-control not to lose my mind and get you pregnant.”

As he said that, he even rolled up his shirt sleeve to show his bandaged forearm.

Condoms? It was better than fooling around with his dick without carrying any, but it was worse than not fooling around and not carrying any at all.

Jin Sejun had never imagined he would hear words like contraception, nor had he expected Kwon Joowan to cling to him like this, so his mind went blank.

If this is the case… doesn’t it make one mistakenly believe that truly unavoidable circumstances are standing between them? As if Kwon Joowan loved Jin Sejun enough.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Instead of calmly explaining the situation, he requests to be fuck buddies. Just from the look in his eyes, he seemed more like a lover breaking up than someone requesting to be fuck buddies, but the condom wrapper that came out of his pocket was that of a commonly seen alpha in heat.

“As for self-control… you have enough too, Mr. Sejun. You were quite rational for someone in heat. There won’t be another omega like you.”

Ah, a flawed alpha must be a really easy target to screw. To an alpha bastard who can’t trust his own self-control and the self-control of an omega bewitched by his pheromones, that is.

Right, it would be a hassle if a kid were to pop up. Since there was no possibility for Jin Sejun, it didn’t matter if he didn’t show him a condom.

What were the next-door neighbors doing around this time? He could only hope they weren’t home or were listening to music so they wouldn’t notice the commotion outside.

Anyway, this is absurd… but despite the absurdity, he wanted to go along with Kwon Joowan’s tantrum. Without thinking about the reason, his pride, or anything else, he just wanted to feel it once more, that sensation of their bare feet touching in a warm blanket, to feel his body heat.

As soon as Jin Sejun pulled him by the collar, Kwon Joowan gathered him up in his arms and came inside the entrance. The door lock, which had been left open in vain, finally engaged, having allowed the intruder in.

The kiss that fell from above was urgent, but something was different from when it had coincided with his heat cycle.