PAO 23

Seowon glared coyly at Junghoo.

“My… alcohol smell.”

The anticipation in Junghoo’s voice quickly died down. A sense of revulsion toward himself for getting excited by someone else’s pheromones, not Seowon’s, resurfaced. He stood there, unable to grab onto the receding Seowon.

“Is it a relief that I can’t smell it?”

Because if Seowon were to manifest, he wouldn’t be able to stay by his side anymore.

Meanwhile, back in his room, Seowon, thud, closed the door and leaned against it, clutching his heart that felt like it was about to explode.

“Ha, wow. Oh….”

He had been careless. The moment he carelessly went out into the living room, he had smelled his own pheromones. He always opened the window to air out the room before bed, but he had forgotten to do that. Junghoo had been suspicious, so he had managed to talk his way out of it, but his startled heart still hadn’t calmed down.

“I must be a real idiot.”

At this rate, getting caught might be just a matter of moments.

How am I supposed to face Junghoo today?

“What brings you here? Actually calling me.”

Yoo Taeha spoke as he lowered his butt onto a bar stool. Yoo Taeha, who substituted his order with a nod to the waiter, looked at Junghoo.

“Judging by your face, you seem physically fine, but your mood must be off? Still, alcohol is dangerous for you, are you going to keep drinking?”

Even though Yoo Taeha tried to stop him, Junghoo paid him no mind and downed the whiskey. When he held out the empty glass, the waiter refilled it, handed a glass to Yoo Taeha as well, and then disappeared.

“Drinking it straight with no ice, nice going in front of your doctor.”

“It’s about Seowon.”

The first thing Junghoo, who had been quiet all along, said was Han Seowon.

“I was wondering when that name would come up. Our Seowon-worshipper, or should I call you Seowon-crazy? Crazy for Seowon.”

“I can smell pheromones.”

“Really? Did he manifest?”

If so, that would be quite surprising news. While Yoo Taeha was grasping the situation, Junghoo shook his head.

“If he really had manifested, I would have kept smelling pheromones.”

Yoo Taeha, deflated, leaned his arm on the bar and propped his chin on it. He had wondered if Junghoo’s situation might change a little if Seowon became an Omega, so he was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the case.

“If you can smell pheromones but he hasn’t manifested… he must have picked it up from somewhere.”

Yoo Taeha muttered, his eyes scanning the displayed bottles of liquor one by one. It was no big deal, as it sometimes happened that a Beta’s body would pick up the scent like perfume from being in the same space as a manifested person.

“It’s always the same pheromones.”

Junghoo muttered, holding out his now-empty glass.

“It’s always the same pheromones.”

“Are you drunk? Why do you keep repeating yourself….”

“I said, it’s always the same pheromones.”

Yoo Taeha, who had been grumbling about what the problem was, couldn’t finish his sentence as a thought occurred to him. He then hesitated, wondering if he should say this, before carefully broaching the subject.

“Doesn’t he have a lover?”

“Fuck.”

At Junghoo’s curse, Yoo Taeha slammed his glass down irritably.

“Have you forgotten that I’m older than you? How dare you just start swearing….”

“Why would Seowon have a lover?”

“The fact that it can rub off like that must mean it’s more than just a friendship. Then again, it is strange that Seowon doesn’t have someone he’s dating.”

Junghoo glared at Yoo Taeha as if he were Seowon’s lover. He hadn’t expected him to be pleased, but seeing his younger brother unable to distinguish between what should and shouldn’t be said to his older brother, Yoo Taeha also started to get crooked.

Thanks to the waiter who appeared at the perfect time to refill their glasses and disappear, Junghoo once again downed his glass straight.

“He was popular since he was a kid. Good at studying, good at sports. He’s also full of responsibility and has a good sense, right? We haven’t seen him in a long time, but how much could he have changed?”

Yoo Taeha hadn’t seen Seowon for as long as Junghoo hadn’t. But he recalled the Seowon he had met recently. The long gap was meaningless, as he was good at conversation and had a nice voice. Not to mention his looks, and his sense of immediately catching on to the other person’s predicament and finding a solution was still there.

“Yeah, I know. Seowon is perfect.”

Yoo Taeha clicked his tongue, seeing Junghoo not stopping the compliments for Seowon even in the midst of this.

That pure-hearted bastard.

“Why would you think a guy like that doesn’t have a lover? What, because the Mister’s company is floundering? People would be lining up to appear and offer to solve it, just like you.”

He already knew, even if Junghoo hadn’t told him. In the first place, it was impossible not to know, as everything about Seowon was basically shared among Junghoo’s family.

“Ah, so what? Are you saying the pheromones belong to that bastard?”

Junghoo irritably ruffled his bangs. He himself knew that Seowon was a catch, but he didn’t want to admit that he had a lover.

“That… that fucking… it’s an Omega’s pheromones.”

His voice was hoarse from his reluctance to say it out loud. On top of that, Junghoo acted even more prickly due to the self-loathing he felt for getting turned on by those pheromones this morning.

“Seowon’s a Beta, so what’s the problem with him dating an Omega?”

“No. It’s not that.”

Junghoo wiped his wet lips after drinking. He had already drunk past his limit.

“I told you to drink in moderation.”

Yoo Taeha looked at Junghoo as if he were pathetic, and then drank his own liquor. Then he made eye contact with the waiter who appeared to fill their empty glasses. The waiter had appeared frequently due to Junghoo’s fast pace, but even after making direct eye contact, he showed no sign of avoiding it.

He was someone who had often caught his interest whenever he came to this bar, but today his presence felt unusually close. Wondering if he was a manifested person, Yoo Taeha slyly sent a small amount of flirtatious pheromones only to the waiter. The waiter, who felt the pheromones, gave a smiling crinkle of his eyes.

“Put your pheromones away.”

“Huh?”

Yoo Taeha, who had been looking at the waiter, turned to Junghoo, wondering what he meant.

“I said, put them away.”

“My pheromones, you mean?”

“Then who else do you think I’m talking to?”

At Junghoo’s words, Yoo Taeha looked back at the waiter. He had sent the pheromones only to him. It was faint enough that even the recipient would barely feel it, and others would be almost completely unaware.

Don’t tell me he felt all of it?

“I’m leaving.”

“Where?”

“To Seowon.”

“After you called me here?”

“Drink with the waiter.”

Junghoo glanced at the waiter once and stood up. As Yoo Taeha was too surprised to even think of stopping the departing Junghoo, Junghoo turned back the way he had come.

“Hyung.”

“What,”

“Give me your phone.”

Junghoo said so, but he reached into Yoo Taeha’s pocket himself.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m going to text Seowon.”

“What are you going to say?”

Junghoo didn’t look for Seowon’s name in Yoo Taeha’s phone but pressed the number that was ingrained in his mind. Opening the message window, Junghoo typed slowly so as not to make any mistakes.

“I’m going to say I’m sleeping over at your place tonight.”

“Why are you telling such a lie?”

“He might call his lover over if I’m not there.”

“Why would he do that? He’d just go out to meet his lover.”

“No.”

Junghoo stroked his lower lip.

“He’ll come crawling to me because he misses our Seowon. Because the kid will be in heat.”

“Crawling…. Let’s not even talk about it.”

Yoo Taeha’s gaze said, ‘you think that’s going to work?’ but Junghoo was focused only on typing the message. After saying he was taking him to his place tonight, he pressed send, and a notification that Seowon had read it appeared right away.

[Okay.]

After confirming Seowon’s simple reply, Junghoo tossed the phone back to Yoo Taeha as if throwing it. Yoo Taeha caught the phone and checked the conversation with Seowon one more time.

“Maybe it’s because you drank a lot, but this is really clumsy. Your strategy is clumsy.”

Yoo Taeha clicked his tongue as he watched Junghoo’s back leaving the bar.

“Who would fall for that…. Tsk.”

Seowon, who had exchanged messages with Yoo Taeha, put down his phone and dried his wet hair. After what had happened this morning, he had been feeling burdened, so he thought this was for the best.

“Huh?”

At the sudden tingling thrill that shot up his spine, Seowon froze all his actions. Strange. It wasn’t time for his heat yet, but his body was starting to tremble.

Why is this happening?

His cycle had never been off before. He was naturally good at controlling his pheromones, and especially as a Dominant, his cycle was very regular.

“There’s no reason for my pheromones to fluctuate so suddenly….”

There is.

He remembered drawing out his own pheromones to calm Junghoo’s. Pheromones are basically a chemical substance used to entice a partner. In other words, they were deeply related to mating, to the point of being called a temptation line.

That’s why a reaction had occurred while mingling with Junghoo’s pheromones. Seowon erased his surprise and looked at the door.

“Forcibly trapping them isn’t good….”

Controlling pheromones to hide them perfectly was different from forcibly trapping them. They had to be released to some extent at the right time to prevent the pheromone gland from being damaged.

Since Junghoo had said he wasn’t coming, it was better to let the pheromones out.

Seowon quietly closed his eyes and stimulated his pheromone gland. The invisible scent, as if delighted, circulated through Seowon’s body before escaping outside.

A sweet scent, like syrup or cotton candy. He had never liked the scent, but he was even more dissatisfied after smelling Junghoo’s pheromones.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if it were a little heavy like his?”

Seowon, who had thought of Junghoo’s pheromones, mumbled to himself and then looked down at a strange reaction. Seowon, seeing the bulge in his pants, acted as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Why are you reacting?”

He wasn’t reacting because of his cycle, so why was it stirring when he imagined Junghoo?

Seowon, with a mix of self-loathing, leaned his head against the headboard for a moment and looked at the ceiling. This is because I’ve been exposed to a lot of Junghoo’s pheromones.