TRIPLE 21

The atmosphere between the two was not great. The inside of the examination room went silent for a moment. Chae Yoonoh, too, rolled his eyes around as if he were in a difficult spot.

“For today, you just need to get the IV treatment and you can go. I’ll make sure to get you some nutritional supplements, so just focus on resting. Don’t overdo it.”

The doctor added, as if wrapping up the situation.

“And… Yoonoh, stay behind and see me.”

∞ ∞ ∞

When they left the hospital building, the sun had dipped a little lower. Chae Yoonoh got into the Jeep and handed Siyeon a cold tea drink. The transparent plastic bottle was cold enough to have dew clinging to the outside, as if he had just bought it while waiting for Siyeon to finish his IV.

I was thirsty just now, so this is good. I popped the lid and tilted the bottle. As the slightly bitter liquid went down my throat, I felt like I was waking up.

“Is there anywhere else you want to go?”

“Aren’t we going home?”

“We have to finish our date. You don’t actually want to just go home, do you?”

He had said let’s go on a date, but was he planning on doing it for real, rather than it just being an excuse to go to the hospital?

“If there’s nowhere else you want to go, shall we go here? There’s a delicious place to eat nearby, too.”

Fortunately, Chae Yoonoh took it upon himself to decide on the next destination. The Jeep veered away from the downtown area and toward the riverside, as if it were a place familiar enough that he didn’t need to use navigation. I didn’t know where it was, but it was clearly in the suburbs.

When I rolled the window down a bit, a cool breeze came in. Just this short drive made me feel like I was going on an outing, and my heart fluttered despite myself. We must have driven for about 10 minutes like that. Chae Yoonoh parked the car near the river.

“This place is….”

“If you aren’t hungry yet, shall we walk a bit? The restaurant is around here.”

There was a well-maintained walking path near the river. Being a famous celebrity, was it okay to be walking around in broad daylight like this? I looked around, worried for nothing, and fortunately, it was a weekday afternoon, so there were few people. An elderly couple exercising and perhaps one child riding a bike in the distance were all there was.

While Siyeon was looking around, Chae Yoonoh got out first and opened the passenger door. Honestly, I didn’t feel like it, but he seemed to like opening doors, so I decided to let him do it.

Once Siyeon got out, Chae Yoonoh pulled his mask down slightly below his chin. He let out a short breath, as if breathing felt stuffy. The two walked along the path side by side. At a distance where their hands might touch at any moment. Chae Yoonoh glanced to the side and said:

“Aren’t you going to ask who that person was earlier?”

He seemed to be talking about the doctor who had examined him. I had left it alone because I thought he would hide it if I interrogated him, but as expected, he opened his mouth on his own. Siyeon seized the chance and immediately asked back.

“Who was it?”

“Just someone like a relative.”

A relative is a relative, so what is “someone like a relative”? Siyeon, who pondered for a moment, opened his mouth again.

“They seemed very surprised earlier. I guess they didn’t know that I’m the omega who will be bearing the child of the actor’s couple.”

“I said you were my lover. So, from now on, if you go there for treatment, just play along and say you’re my lover.”

“…Lover?”

“It’s best to be as careful as possible regarding matters related to our contract.”

Although I was a bit surprised, Chae Yoonoh’s words made sense. Aren’t we talking about a famous celebrity and a famous businessman? There was no need to be exposed for no reason, as the one who would suffer damage would be me, so Siyeon agreed immediately.

“I can accept the lover thing, but… what about the ‘no pregnancy for 3 months’ part?”

“Don’t worry about that. Since we decided to start as pheromone partners anyway, I’ll talk to my hyung properly about the duration.”

Chae Yoonoh was unexpectedly cooperative. Honestly, this must be a bothersome situation with absolutely nothing to gain for him, so I don’t know why he’s shielding me from Beom Yisu.

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like it came from a pure heart, so rather than feeling grateful, I was curious about the reason.

“Actor-nim….”

As Siyeon, who was strolling through the park, opened his mouth, Chae Yoonoh cut him off this time.

“Honey, I told you my name.”

“…Did you?”

“But why do you keep calling me Actor-nim? You’re not even my manager.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Yoonoh.”

“….”

“Or honey?”

When a useless term popped out, Siyeon immediately cut him off.

“I don’t like that.”

“Ah, why. You said you wanted to be my fan. Don’t you know what quasi-dating is? I’ll give you that.”

I could feel the atmosphere, which had been stiff ever since the examination, loosening up because of his trivial joke. Looking at him like this, he doesn’t seem like that bad of a guy, so how did he end up turning so dark?

Or is this all just acting, too? Well, it didn’t matter which one it was. I had no intention of accepting his heart sincerely.

“I’ll call you Mr. Yoonoh. That should be fine, right?”

I had called him “Mr. Yoonoh” in the original work, so I thought it would be fine to do the same. Chae Yoonoh didn’t seem to like the distance in that honorific, but fortunately, he didn’t pester me anymore.

At that moment, an anxiety flashed through Siyeon’s mind.

‘Isn’t it dangerous to follow the protagonist of a dark romance?’

What exactly was the reason Chae Yoonoh turned dark? Most of the parts Siyeon had skipped over were high-rated scenes. It’s highly likely the cracks began to form after emotions piled up… but there was no way to know right now.

Click-

While I was deep in thought, Siyeon turned his head at the sound of a sudden shutter. Sure enough, Chae Yoonoh was smiling while aiming his phone at Siyeon.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s our first date, after all. As a memento.”

On the screen he showed me was a beautiful subject that looked like it could be used for a magazine pictorial right away. A face that seemed lost in melancholy amidst a background with good sunlight. The eyelashes casting long shadows, and even the soft jawline that fell in a slightly rounded shape.

Is Chae Yoonoh’s photography skill just exceptionally good? Or is it because the model is good? I can’t believe it was taken casually with a phone camera.

“…It came out really well.”

Siyeon let out a mutter that was close to self-praise. Of course, it was a remark that naturally came out because I thought of myself and the omega Hong Siyeon as separate entities, but to a third party, it might seem like extreme narcissism.

“You think so too, right?”

However, Chae Yoonoh nodded and agreed as if it were natural. Since he acted as if he were truly pleased, Siyeon reached out reflexively.

“No, delete it.”

“No.”

Chae Yoonoh pulled his phone back as if he couldn’t hand it over. It wasn’t just a matter of a large height difference; the difference in arm length was also significant, so getting the phone from him was nearly impossible.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“It’s pretty. I’m going to use it as my background.”

“That’s an infringement of portrait rights.”

“It’s fine, I’m the only one who’s going to look at it.”

That’s exactly why the fact that you’re looking at it is the problem. I didn’t want to be petty over just one photo, but I felt uncomfortable for no reason. If possible, it would be better for my peace of mind to leave no trace until the contract is terminated. I don’t want anything like that to happen, but if they start acting like they do in the original, I might have to run away.

“Why? Do you want to take a picture with me too?”

“No, I….”

“I didn’t think of that. You must want to have my photos too.”

Suddenly, I realized I’d made a mistake. I was so absorbed in trying to snatch Chae Yoonoh’s phone that I hadn’t even noticed we’d gotten significantly closer. Siyeon quickly stepped back, but this time Chae Yoonoh was one step faster. Before I knew it, Chae Yoonoh, who had pulled his mask down to his chin, wrapped his arms around Siyeon’s waist and pulled him tightly against himself.

“Come on, look here.”

“A-ah, no. I’m not doing this! I’m not taking a picture!”

“Honey, if you keep squirming like that outside, I might be in trouble.”

Siyeon struggled to get away, but it wasn’t easy as he was no match for the Alpha’s grip strength. During the small scuffle, Chae Yoonoh tickled the waist he was holding, which caused a burst of laughter, and he snapped pictures of me like that over and over again.

Perhaps his joke about whether my waist was an erogenous zone wasn’t entirely nonsense, because my strength drained away even without him doing much. I was so out of my mind that I didn’t even realize a pile of photos had been taken that made us look like we were laughing and playing.

“Hahaha, hu… huu, damn it, stop! This is an erogenous zone, so stop it!”

Unable to hold it in anymore, I shouted, and only then did Chae Yoonoh take a step back from me. Sorry, sorry. Even though his words were plausible, his face was full of mischief.

Siyeon caught his breath and glared up at him. The waist that had been held just a moment ago was burning hot, and my temper flared even more out of frustration. I had suppressed the urge to use foul language with superhuman strength, but to his eyes, it seemed like it only looked like me being coy.

“Sorry, sorry. I won’t do it. That time was a bit too much.”

Chae Yoonoh put his phone in his pocket with a face that didn’t look sorry at all. After he shot a wink at Siyeon, looking satisfied as if he had achieved his goal, I thought: Dammit.

‘That son of a bitch, Yohan. As expected, he was hiding his true colors.’

Siyeon didn’t even have the mental capacity to reply. Just before Siyeon, who was panting and gasping for breath, could say anything back, I felt a stinging sensation inside my eye.

It seemed a teardrop had formed, and an eyelash had fallen off and stuck to the edge of my eyelid. When Siyeon blinked without thinking, the thin hair was pushed further inside.

“Ah, my eye….”

The moment I went to put my hand up to the stinging sensation, Chae Yoonoh reached out first. Having been caught before, Siyeon reflexively pulled his body back.

“Don’t touch me!”