PAO 17

On the way back home. Seowon looked out the window, recalling the words he had heard in the doctor’s office.

‘It’s subsided for now, so nothing will happen for a while, but next time, you’ll really die. You’re a ticking time bomb right now!’

‘I’m telling you, you’ll drop dead if you don’t do it! Have sex.’

The fact that his cousin—who was also a doctor—had been shouting at him to have sex kept bothering him.

Why would a doctor’s prescription be something like that? And was that the only prescription he had given Junghoo in the first place?

He was confused about everything—whether the talk about dying was a typical threat or a doctor’s sincere medical opinion.

Seowon went over it again from the beginning.

His family had gone bankrupt—anyway, due to a sudden turn of events, he had ended up living with Junghoo. He hadn’t known because the guy was like a Snow White with his naturally fair skin, but he’d apparently been sick ever since they started living together. Eventually, his nose wouldn’t stop bleeding, and he ended up in the emergency room, where Yoo Taeha had spoken gravely about Junghoo’s condition.

Thinking this far, it seemed there was something about Junghoo that he didn’t know.

‘Is it to be expected, I guess.’

Nine years was more than enough time for two people to develop a secret or two from each other.

Seowon turned his head to look at Junghoo.

Beneath his long eyebrows, his closed eyes didn’t move in the slightest. But it was clear he wasn’t sleeping, and Junghoo remained still until Seowon spoke to him.

Junghoo’s previously rough skin had become smooth, and the color had returned to his lips. That alone made him look better than yesterday, so although the nosebleed was unfortunate, Seowon felt it had been a good idea to come to the hospital.

“You asleep?”

“No.”

The moment he opened his eyes to look at him, a light seemed to flash in Junghoo’s pupils and then disappear. It was just the sunlight shining in, but it was as if his eyes were emitting light. Color had returned to his face, making it hard to believe he was the one who had been genuinely sick.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good.”

“You look it. Was the hospital food good?”

“It’s because I ate with you.”

Junghoo gave all the credit to Seowon. He said that waking up refreshed in the morning was thanks to Seowon, and enduring the tests was all because Seowon was there.

Gazing at Junghoo’s smiling lips, Seowon took his phone out of his pocket. As his fingers moved while looking down at the phone, Seowon spoke without looking at Junghoo.

“Glad to hear you’re okay. In that case, you should go on a blind date.”

“…”

Junghoo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Seowon. He was trying to figure out the context behind the sudden mention of a blind date.

“Seowon.”

Junghoo’s suppressed voice was laced with disappointment toward Seowon.

“I heard Taeha hyung yelling earlier. Are you not seeing anyone because of me?”

“That’s not it.”

Junghoo shook his head and added.

“Then?”

“I just don’t want to.”

“…How old are you.”

His situation didn’t seem good enough to just say he didn’t want to.

“Or is it that something’s broken somewhere?”

His pheromones were broken. To hide his true feelings from Seowon, Junghoo changed the subject.

“It won’t get hard.”

“What?”

He couldn’t bring himself to ask where, how, or for what reason that was the case.

“That’s why, so don’t worry.”

“Isn’t that even more serious?”

Seowon looked between Junghoo’s legs. When he made a strange expression, Junghoo cupped Seowon’s chin and lifted it.

“Want to check for yourself?”

“There’s not much to check. You definitely got hard.”

He’d seen it. He hadn’t stripped him and looked, but he had clearly seen the bulge in Junghoo’s fly, so Seowon shook his head. But Junghoo had something to say too.

“It won’t get hard for anyone but you.”

It was when Seowon’s front teeth bit his lower lip, realizing he’d been played by a pun. Junghoo’s gaze stared intently at his lips before moving back up.

“A manifested person needs to release their pheromones periodically.”

As if to let him know this wasn’t a joke, Junghoo’s heavy voice filled the taxi.

“It’s best for an Alpha to meet an Omega and release their pheromones. That’s why Taeha hyung is telling me to meet an Omega.”

Seowon couldn’t understand why he was stating what was practically common knowledge.

“The pheromones I release when I get excited by Seowon probably aren’t enough, right?”

“…What?”

“Of course, that’s not why I’m waiting for you to manifest. I told you, I just like you.”

“You want to make a pass at me even at a time like this?”

“It’s better than you trying to set me up with someone else.”

The way he shot back immediately, it seemed Yoo Junghoo was sulking because he’d told him to go on a blind date.

“We’re here.”

As the taxi stopped, Seowon hastily got out without even making eye contact with the driver. Not caring whether Junghoo followed, Seowon walked with quick steps, fanning the front of his shirt to cool his heated insides.

“How can he be so consistent?”

He knew what kind of sex Yoo Taeha wanted, so he could also understand why Junghoo was refusing.

“Still, isn’t it better than being sick? In this day and age, maintaining your purity for a one-sided love is a rare thing in itself.”

Bothered by the fact that he hadn’t revealed he was an Omega, Seowon grumbled with full-blown discontent. It was an uncomfortable feeling, as if he were ignoring Junghoo’s pain by hiding something he could resolve himself.

The two didn’t exchange a single word until they got home. It was only after they entered the foyer that Junghoo spoke to Seowon, who was taking off his sneakers.

“Seowon, are you mad?”

“I’m thinking it over.”

Whether he should be honest and reveal it, or help him find another Omega.

“If you’re thinking you want to manifest quickly because of me, you don’t have to.”

“What are you talking about?”

He was an Omega all along, but now he could say he’d just become one. He knew that would be a natural way to reveal his trait without getting caught for keeping it a secret, but Junghoo’s words were so loaded with meaning that Seowon couldn’t help but ask.

“Because you alone won’t be enough.”

“…What?”

“There’s something Taeha hyung didn’t tell you… Even if Seowon becomes a super-ultra-mega-awesome-Omega, you can’t handle it on your own.”

Seowon winced at the phrase, which sounded like something he would have heard about 20 years ago, and Junghoo gently stroked his forehead.

“If you become an Omega, you’ll need time to adjust, so you won’t be able to have sex right away anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“So don’t be all antsy, wanting to solve something right this second.”

Junghoo ruffled Seowon’s hair.

“Thanks for staying with me all night.”

Then he turned and went inside ahead of him. At the sudden words of gratitude, Seowon just stood there, speechless.

‘That bastard is doing that on purpose.’

It was quite a talent, how naturally he could change the subject. The problem also lay with himself, for being unable to ignore those words and getting swayed.

“Crazy.”

Sensing his own faint pheromones, Seowon laughed in disbelief.

“Reacting to every little thing.”

“Reacting to what?”

When Seowon didn’t come in, Junghoo had already returned and lowered his gaze to inspect the area between his legs.

“Did you react?”

“It’s not like that. Does everything connect to R-rated stuff for you?”

“When it comes to you, yes.”

“Wouldn’t you know it.”

Seowon waved his hand, intending to stop the pointless conversation, and tried to walk past. But Junghoo, who he thought would follow, grabbed his wrist. Then, wrinkling his nose, he darted his eyes around as if searching for something. His reaction was so strange that Seowon flinched slightly and said.

“Why?”

“Where did it get on you?”

“What did?”

“You smell like pheromones.”

Junghoo grabbed Seowon’s wrist, brought it to his nose, and sniffed.

It was the same situation as before. Back then, he had managed to gloss it over by blaming it on shampoo, but this time, he was outright asserting that it was pheromones.

‘Can I reveal that I’m an Omega right now?’

He had agonized over it until he got out of the taxi, but no clear answer had emerged, and his conversation with Junghoo had made it even more ambiguous. He wasn’t confident that revealing he was an Omega would solve Junghoo’s illness. If, as Junghoo said, it wasn’t something that could be fixed just because he was anxious about it, wouldn’t confessing be pointless? It might not be as simple as just pumping out a ton of pheromones, right? Because he was…

Seowon was about to bite his lip but stopped, sensing Junghoo’s gaze. There was nothing to gain from showing any agitation here. Especially since Junghoo, who knew all his habits, would find it strange.

“…What do I smell like?”

Seowon suppressed his voice, trying to be as calm as possible. The words came out sounding naturally husky, but there was no better way for them to come out. At Seowon’s question, Junghoo brought the wrist closer again.

“…Cotton candy?”

“Then isn’t it just cotton candy that got on me?”

Seowon bent his other arm and buried his face in it. It was an awkward posture, making it unclear whether he was trying to smell something or block his own nose. After taking a few breaths, Seowon tilted his head as if he didn’t know. Junghoo took Seowon’s hand and held the wrist area to his nose.

“You have to smell here.”

At Junghoo’s words, Seowon glanced up at him, then roughly imitated the act of smelling. It was common in media for manifested people to smell pheromones.

There were tons of photoshoots with people bowing their heads to wrists, napes, and so on because those poses exuded a certain enigmatic atmosphere.

But since Betas couldn’t sense pheromones, even if they were used to seeing it, they wouldn’t bury their noses in someone to take a sniff.

That was what Seowon was aiming for. Feigning ignorance of how to sense pheromones, he buried his nose in an awkward spot and sniffed, and what he smelled faintly rising was indeed his own pheromones. Seowon took a few more breaths in and out, then looked up at Junghoo.