PAO 2

This guy, he must be an omega. I thought he was staring earlier, and it seems he realized Junghoo is an alpha. Seowon glanced at Junghoo. He must be sure he’s an alpha because of that physique, right? He is an alpha, but…

“Go away.”

Junghoo didn’t even give the man a glance and waved his hand. It was a clear rejection, but far from backing down, the man spoke quickly.

“Don’t be like that, how about you just look at me properly once? I’m a better man than you think.”

“There’s only one person who’s good enough for me.”

Junghoo put up an impenetrable wall. Seeing him push the man away relatively politely, it seemed the man had approached cautiously. The last time someone hit on him, he had laid into them without mercy. It wasn’t that the person had done anything wrong. It was just…

That he had asked Seowon to move.

“Everyone says that at first. This is my business card. My contact information is at the bottom, so please be sure to call…”

The man spoke with a smile, then looked around. Was he looking for something, or… Seowon unconsciously pulled his upper body back, feeling anxious that the trouble might splash onto him.

“If you’d like, I can introduce a suitable person to this gentleman as well.”

Seowon gave a bitter smile as the man spoke, looking directly at him. Ah… so this is how Yoo Junghoo’s trigger gets pushed once again.

“Are your eyes knotholes? Who’s introducing who to whom.”

“Excuse me? It’s just that you two seem like friends…”

“Friends, my ass… Can’t you see I’m hitting on him right now?”

The man mumbled an excuse with a flustered face.

“But this gentleman is a beta…”

“That’s why I’m waiting right now. His family is a lineage of presented traits, so he’s going to present too. Fuck. I’m waiting so fucking hard, but he’s not presenting, so I’m so frustrated I could choke, you know? Don’t rub it in my face.”

Fucking hard and choking. It’s a mess. A total mess. Seowon sneered inwardly and examined the contract again, but there was nothing to find fault with.

“Ah… but if he hasn’t presented by this age.”

“He will. I said he will present.”

Junghoo’s eyes grew sharp.

“It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t, but still, he will. Just you wait until he does. I’ll fuck him day and night,”

“Shut up.”

At Seowon’s low word, Junghoo shut his mouth. However, his eyes were pouring out the words he hadn’t finished.

I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to fuck you so hard. I’m going to chew you up and suck you dry.

Seowon let out an open sigh. The contract was perfect, he didn’t know if his family was really ruined, and right in front of him, this guy was making a scene about liking him, so he was going crazy.

“Why are you pouting your lips. It’s so damn cute.”

Seowon watched with a look of disillusionment as Junghoo shyly covered his eyes as if embarrassed. He might think that if they just dated for a bit and then broke up, those feelings might subside, but… not at all. The moment he gave that crazy bastard a chance, he would never be able to escape.

After the man left, an even more awkward silence than before passed between them. Seowon, with the guy who was contemplating how to devour him right in front of him, wondered what he should do from now on.

‘It’s dark. I can’t see anything.’

His eyes weren’t even closed, but the future looked dark.

“Don’t worry. No matter how crazy I am for you, I won’t pounce on you before you present.”

He spoke with an air of not laying a single finger on him, but right now, pheromones were surging threateningly from Junghoo’s body.

“You have no home and no money, so move into my place. I’ll give you an allowance too. And clothes. Oh! I don’t have any loungewear, what should I do? I walk around naked.”

“You crazy bastard, cut it out.”

Seowon crumpled the contract as if he were picking up his book. Then again, that meticulous bastard probably had the original stored separately, but he hated the sight of it.

“It’s fine even if you walk around stark naked. I can wait until you become an omega. As soon as you present, I’ll hold you for three nights and four days, but I can hold back for now.”

“What are you talking about, I told you I’m a beta…”

Seowon muttered, feigning ignorance of those pheromones.

It’s driving me crazy how he’s so obsessed with me even when I say I’m a beta.

The moment I say I’m an omega, I feel like I’ll be eaten alive. It’s scary.

“I’m going to class.”

Seowon hurriedly gathered his books and stood up. He didn’t know when he’d be able to get away if Junghoo held him back, so he left the cafe without even saying goodbye. He could feel Junghoo’s gaze on him through the plate glass window, but he didn’t look back. Instead, he turned sideways to get out of Junghoo’s line of sight and fumbled with the phone in his pocket.

“Ruined. He said my family is ruined…”

There is no bolt from the blue quite like this. Who would believe it at face value when told that their family went bankrupt overnight? He went into his phone’s recent calls, ignored Junghoo’s name at the very top, and found and pressed his father’s name.

While the phone rang a few times, Seowon waited, chewing on his innocent lips. With books in one hand and the phone in the other, he couldn’t do anything about his anxious heart, so he ended up tormenting his lips.

—Hello, Seowon.

“Father.”

Seowon was about to get straight to the point but closed his mouth. Nothing good would come from asking pressingly. If they were really ruined as Junghoo said, his father would be busy and out of his mind right now, so he should ask slowly so as not to burden him.

“Have you eaten?”

—Yes. You?

“I still have one class left, so I was going to eat after that.”

—Won’t you be hungry?

“I went to a cafe in between and am on my way to the lecture hall. I ate cake, so I’m not hungry.”

—You cake fiend, you didn’t fill up on that instead of a proper meal, did you?

At his father’s lighthearted joke, the corners of Seowon’s mouth relaxed into a smile. It wasn’t that he liked cake, but that he liked the special days when he ate cake, but his father still called Seowon a cake fiend.

“By the way, I was thinking of coming home for the first time in a while, when will you be home, Father?”

—Home?

“Yes. After my classes end today, I’ll rest over the weekend. I’ve been eating nothing but instant noodles, so I want to eat the food our housekeeper makes.”

On the outside, he spoke like a cute son complaining, but Seowon’s expression was stiff. He waited for the usual happy reaction he’d get when he said he was coming, even while pretending it was nothing.

But he could hear his father’s breathing, but no answer came. Seowon tapped the ground with the tip of his toe.

—Seowon, it would be better if you didn’t come home for a while.

“Why? Did… something happen at home?”

Anticipating that a difficult conversation would now follow, Seowon repeatedly bit his dry lips. He tilted his head back and looked at the sky. It was the same sky he always saw, so why had his daily life suddenly cracked?

—I’ll have a hard time getting home for the next few days, and the people who help with the housework can’t come because they have things to do. If you come, you’ll just end up boiling instant noodles anyway, so there’s no need to come.

It wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. Seowon was about to ask if that was really all, but he bit his lip again and let go.

“Really? I was worried for nothing.”

Seowon deliberately raised his voice and muttered brightly. He pretended not to notice that his dad’s voice, which said it was nothing, was subdued, and ignored the loud noises that sounded like he was outside when he should have been at the company.

“I was planning to see your face for the first time in a while. Then let’s have dinner together tonight. Would you like to come to my studio apartment, Father? Or should we eat out together…”

—I’m sorry, Seowon. I don’t think I’ll have time today.

“Oh, really? Can’t be helped. We’ll have dinner next time.”

Seowon didn’t press any further. He waited for him to say that everything was fine here. So let’s meet at home, even if it’s late.

—Seowon.

His father’s voice, now a pitch lower, was hard to catch. Seowon, not content with just turning the volume to the maximum, pressed the phone firmly against his ear.

—Seowon, I was wondering if you could stay with Junghoo for a while. What do you think?

“With… Junghoo? Why him all of a sudden?”

—You said you’ve been eating nothing but instant noodles. I was worried you wouldn’t be eating properly, so I asked Junghoo. Stay with Junghoo instead of at your studio.

“He likes me too much, so it’s a burden. And my studio is small, so it’ll be crowded if he comes.”

Seowon muttered the truth, half-jokingly.

—Haha. He has been trailing only you since he was little. As you said, your studio is small, so go to Junghoo’s place.

“Ah… Father. Come to think of it, I think I’ll be fine. If I get really sick of instant noodles, I can just go to Minsung’s…”

The phone was suddenly snatched from his hand, and Seowon tilted his head back in surprise.

“Minsung? Who’s Minsung? A classmate in your major? You’re going to sleep at his place? What kind of relationship do you have?”

Junghoo whispered, holding Seowon’s phone up in the air.

“You…”

As Seowon was at a loss for words, Junghoo calmly put the phone to his ear.

“Mister, this is Junghoo. Yes, I told Seowon we should live together starting today, and it seems he called you. I know, right? I still like Seowon, you know. No. What do you mean, a burden. Where else would I find a friend as spe.cial. as Seowon.”

Junghoo continued the call, his gaze fixed directly on Seowon. Junghoo’s eyes, which put a particular emphasis on ‘special,’ slowly scanned down from Seowon’s face.

‘Is that how you look at a special friend?’

When Junghoo reached out his hand, Seowon flinched and pulled his head back. But he couldn’t escape the range of his touch with Junghoo’s long arm. Seowon was startled by the coldness of the finger that landed on his lips.

Lips. Don’t bite them.

Junghoo just mouthed the words silently while listening to the mister’s words. Seowon rubbed his lips hard with the back of his hand for no reason. Finding that cute, Junghoo stuck out his tongue and wet his own lips.

Why the hell are you sticking your tongue out?

“Yes, please take your time with the money. Let me know if you need more. I’ll take good care of Seowon. Goodbye.”

He had seen him pretend to be a normal person to others to the point of being sick of it, so this time too, he just clicked his tongue and let it go. Others didn’t know that he was a crazy pervert to him. Just a friend who considered Seowon his best friend? Even his father thought so right now, but it was too late to tell him the truth.

When the call ended, Junghoo held out the now-dark phone. Seowon couldn’t help his gloomy feelings and just stared at the phone. When did he follow me?

Surely he didn’t hear everything, right?

“When did you get here?”

“I knew you’d do this, so I followed you. If you were just going to make a call, why did you come all the way here? You could have just confirmed it over the phone in front of me.”

“How could I trust you…”

“Really? For someone who can’t trust me, you couldn’t ask the mister if he was ruined.”

Seowon flared up at the answer, which was no different from saying he had heard the entire phone call from the beginning.

He heard everything. He heard it all.

“Do you think I didn’t want to ask?”

“Really? You were scared to hear the answer that he was ruined.”

Junghoo replied casually, looking at the recent calls on the phone.