PAO 21

“I was thinking it was a shame to just let you go, but here we see each other again. I thought you looked really familiar.”

From Sung Hangyul’s pleased expression, the atmosphere was such that he seemed about to ask him to sit down.

Junghoo cut in and interrupted.

“Did you come to buy coffee?”

“Yeah. Are you going to be here for a while?”

“I’m just going to talk with my… hyung and then leave. Why?”

“I saw you, so I called out. I’m going now.”

Seowon waved his hand to prevent any further conversation and turned away. He didn’t hear any footsteps following him as he walked to the counter. After ordering a coffee and heading to the pickup area, Seowon nonchalantly glanced toward Junghoo.

Junghoo was still standing in the same spot where he had been facing him. Sung Hangyul, waiting for Junghoo to sit, waved at Seowon. He seemed like a nice person; maybe Seowon had 괜히 misunderstood.

Coffee in hand, Seowon left the cafe without looking back at Junghoo’s side. Seowon’s expression was stiff as he walked, unable to even think about drinking his coffee.

He had said he was going to see his parents, but he was meeting someone else. If it were someone not worth mentioning, they wouldn’t have hugged so familiarly. It was possible the appointment was made suddenly, but it felt unsettling. So when he had approached and spoken to Junghoo, he had been unusually flustered.

Why had he been so agitated when it was just an acquaintance hyung?

“Maybe I shouldn’t have gone in.”

His head was even more of a mess now.

“Are you going to keep standing there?”

At Sung Hangyul’s voice, Junghoo belatedly sat down. As he remained silent, lost in thought, Sung Hangyul spoke again.

“A close friend?”

At Sung Hangyul’s question, Junghoo frowned and shook his head.

“He is not a mere close friend.”

“Really? You seemed to care a lot about him. If he’s not a friend then….”

“My everything.”

“…”

At Junghoo’s firm retort, Sung Hangyul was at a loss for words for the first time. He wasn’t particularly interested in his patient’s personal relationships, but he hadn’t expected such a vehement reaction. Moreover, because he had spouted such nonsensical things like ‘my everything,’ he hadn’t been able to hear exactly what their relationship was.

“You don’t look so good….”

Whether Sung Hangyul was flustered or not, Junghoo was still bothered by Seowon’s dark expression as he had turned away. As Junghoo became lost in thought, wondering if this was something he could resolve, Sung Hangyul, who was watching him, gave up on even urging him to sit down, tired of it all.

“Even if I try to continue our broken mood, the other person has to listen.”

Sung Hangyul stood up from his seat.

“Don’t ask Taeha to solve it for you, just come back. The development isn’t finished yet.”

Sung Hangyul stated the purpose of his visit to Junghoo in a calm manner. It was closer to a threat than a suggestion, but he was blunt because he had been watching over Junghoo. However, this time Junghoo was not to be trifled with either.

“I believe I told you when I left. That I have no intention of ever going back.”

Junghoo shook his head. His will was firm, as if he had no intention of changing his mind.

Sung Hangyul’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Junghoo. What should he do if simple threats didn’t work? As he assessed the situation and was about to throw out a stronger threat, Junghoo beat him to the punch.

“I’m leaving.”

Junghoo, who until a moment ago had seemed listless and bothered, now showed a hint of impatience, as if he wanted to get his business over with quickly and leave.

Without giving Sung Hangyul a single glance, Junghoo left and immediately started walking in one direction. Was it a coincidence that it was the same direction the man he called his friend had gone earlier?

“What about the cake?”

“I got coffee instead, for you to drink.”

“Thanks.”

Minsung, who took the coffee from Seowon, glanced outside for a moment before looking back at his own hand. It was a bit hot right now; would a hot americano go down well? After a brief moment of deliberation, he set it down beside him.

It’ll cool down while we eat. Then it won’t be a hot americano but a lukewarm one, so I should be able to drink it. With his americano dilemma resolved, Park Minsung looked at his next target.

“Did you see Junghoo?”

“…Yeah.”

“Did something happen? It looked like you met an acquaintance earlier… Oh, never mind. I won’t ask.”

“It’s okay. Like you said, it was an acquaintance.”

As if nothing was wrong, Seowon continued to wipe his hands with a wet wipe. Minsung probably didn’t even notice that he had changed his words. Seowon, you’re wiping your hands with the dishcloth right now.

The waitress had been wiping the table earlier and had left in a hurry, and Seowon was wiping his hands with that dishcloth. It was understandable to get them mixed up under normal circumstances, but it was dark gray and was still puffed up from where the waitress had gripped it, yet he was completely oblivious.

Minsung handed Seowon a wet wipe and took the dishcloth away. Only then did Seowon realize what he had been wiping his hands with and let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Actually, I think I shouldn’t have gone. It’s not like I need to know everyone around Junghoo; I was being nosy.”

“Junghoo followed us when we were drinking, too.”

He hadn’t told Seowon, but Junghoo had also threatened Minsung.

“Right?”

Seowon’s face lit up upon hearing the answer he wanted. He wasn’t paying attention to Junghoo; he was just returning the favor since he had done it too.

*

Seowon glanced at the top of his phone. It was past 11. At this time, he would usually be watching a movie before falling asleep. Then Seowon would soothe Junghoo’s pheromones with his own. That had been the repeated schedule for the past ten days.

Seowon leaned back on the sofa and crossed his arms.

“Is there any need to keep waiting?”

His entire daily routine had been thrown off because of this. He couldn’t listen properly in class today either. If it weren’t for Minsung’s meticulous notes, he wouldn’t remember a thing, to the point where he wondered if he should just take a leave of absence.

The reason he dozed off in class every day was all because he was up all night controlling Junghoo’s pheromones, and the fact that he was still waiting for him now felt newly futile. Right now, Junghoo could be clinking glasses with that hyung, or he could have gone to see the Mister and be having dinner.

“Let’s just ignore it.”

Having come to that conclusion, Seowon stood up from the sofa, but couldn’t take a single step and slumped back down. Junghoo’s pheromones were too unusual to be ignored with a clear conscience. Even though he stayed up almost every night, all he could do was calm them down.

“More importantly, I thought his pheromones were weak, so why did they suddenly increase so much?”

Seowon tilted his head, puzzled. Junghoo had said he was a Dominant, but to Seowon, his pheromones seemed far too faint to be called Dominant. He couldn’t even detect that he himself was an Omega, which made him doubt his words even more.

Could it really be true? Or did he get a pheromone booster shot, even for a short time?

“But things like that are illegal.”

Everything related to pheromones was under national control, and forcibly changing one’s trait or abnormally increasing the amount of pheromones was strictly prohibited. But Junghoo’s pheromones were changing in concentration and amount at an astonishing rate day by day.

The deeper he dug, the only answer he came up with was that he understood even less.

“Whatever. What does his increasing pheromones have to do with me?”

Seowon roughly tousled his hair and stood up. He had waited for nothing.

“If he’s not back by now, something must be up.”

He’s gallivanting around outside because he can handle it.

As Seowon, who was carelessly stuffing his phone into his pocket, was heading back to his room, he felt a vibration and stopped. A bright light shone through the fabric. With the continuous vibration, Seowon debated whether to ignore it or take it out and check.

Even as Seowon brushed back the hair that was tickling his face, the vibration showed no sign of stopping. The moment he realized the annoying feeling wasn’t because of his hair but something else, Seowon irritably reached for his phone and shouted as he picked it up.

“Why are you calling instead of coming home?”

Seowon, who had answered the phone rather gruffly, paused and looked down at his phone to check the name.

Yoo Junghoo.

The three characters were clearly displayed, but an unfamiliar voice kept coming from the other side of the phone.

—Hello? Hello.

When Seowon didn’t respond, he heard a repeated calling sound. It was a young woman’s voice. Did the call drop? She even muttered to herself, and only then did Seowon put the phone back to his ear.

“Who is this?”

—The owner of this phone hasn’t been waking up for a while now. I think he drank a lot. Would you be able to come and get him?

It wasn’t someone Junghoo knew. Moreover, at the words that he had fallen asleep outside, Seowon’s face hardened.

“Where are you?”

*

The place the woman mentioned was fortunately not far. Worried that the sleeping guy might wander off somewhere in his drunken state, Seowon ran without stopping, and now he leaned on his knees, panting heavily.

A woman spotted Seowon and pointed to a figure slumped over a table. She had immediately recognized that Seowon was the person who had come to get Junghoo.

“This person just won’t wake up.”

The part-time worker explained how she came to call and then went back into the convenience store. Seowon, unable to even thank her, looked at Junghoo and let out a long sigh. He was out of breath and dripping with sweat, while the other was sleeping so peacefully, and he felt a surge of anger.

Seowon trudged over and stood in front of Junghoo. How could he sleep so soundly, as if he didn’t care if someone took advantage of him? Seowon, exasperated, lowered his voice and called to him.

“Mister, wake up.”

Seowon tapped Junghoo’s shoulder.

“Get a grip. If you sleep here, your mouth will get crooked. Is facial paralysis your thing?”

“…Fuck off.”

“Yes, I’ll fuck off, so I’m telling you to get up too, Mister.”

Seowon now acted as if he didn’t care whether Junghoo woke up or not and hit his back mercilessly. He paid no mind even when he saw his head bobbing. Then, when Junghoo slapped his hand away and sat up, Seowon put his hands in his pockets as if nothing had happened. Junghoo, who had been scowling fiercely, immediately relaxed his expression upon spotting Seowon.

“It’s Han Seowon.”

As his annoyed gaze quickly turned gentle, Seowon clicked his tongue.

“How did you know I was here? Were you looking for me?”

“I got a call.”

Seowon gestured with his eyes toward the part-timer who had gone inside the convenience store, then looked around Junghoo. Where did that guy from before go? Then again, if that guy had been here, it was unlikely he would have received a call.

“If you’re drunk, you should just go home quietly and sleep. Why are you being so pathetic out here?”

“I have a lot to think about.”

For someone who said that, he seemed to have just gotten drunk and fallen asleep…. Well, since Junghoo said he was thinking, Seowon stared down at his face.

He thought he wasn’t coming home because he was meeting that man. After some deliberation, he had decided not to release his pheromones since Junghoo was coming home late, but why was he alone? It would be a lie to say his heart hadn’t softened.