Pink Flavor Omega

#10

***

After leaving the office, Lee Jaeha didn’t go home but wandered around the area. He spent time at a café near Eunhong’s company and strolled through a park with few people.

Before he knew it, it had become late at night.

Jaeha looked up at Eunhong’s brightly lit office building and searched for its market capitalization on his phone. He was burning with a sense of justice, thinking that companies like this that sucked the blood of young people to fill their own bellies should be dissolved. But whenever the revolving door of the building opened and someone came out, he focused all his attention on it.

A few groups passed by Jaeha, glancing at him. Jaeha’s gaze was fixed only on the door, but that wasn’t important to them.

An omega passing by Jaeha subtly emitted pheromones. The pheromones of others touching him during this sensitive period were so irritating that they made his skin sting, causing Jaeha’s face to crumple uncontrollably.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. As he threw a brief, threatening glance, he saw the omega retreat hesitantly. It was a vulgar and unpleasant pheromone. Jaeha’s hand pulled the flint of the lighter to light it.

After enduring like that for a while, he saw the lights on the 8th floor turn off. As he was counting in his head, Eunhong finally popped out. With someone beside him. Jaeha’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Eunhong brightened upon seeing him. He was like a puppy. If he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously. Jaeha took in everything, from Eunhong bowing to the man next to him to him running over.

“Lee Jaeha! What brings you here?”

“Who’s that person?”

Used to Jaeha cutting straight to the chase, Eunhong answered casually.

“Our team’s director. Art Director. Mr. Shim AD.”

Eunhong looked curiously at Jaeha’s frowning face.

“He’s an alpha?”

“Oh, yeah. How did you know?”

“You smell like him.”

Eunhong lifted his arm and sniffed it. Sniff sniff. He couldn’t smell anything except the fabric softener. Jaeha grabbed Eunhong’s arm and casually rubbed it to brush it off.

“I know you can’t smell it, but don’t sniff it anyway.”

“Huh?”

When Eunhong reflexively brought his arm to his nose again, Jaeha made a “tsk” sound.

“I said don’t inhale it.”

“Are you telling me not to breathe?”

Eunhong chuckled at the silly remark that didn’t match Jaeha’s serious expression. It had been a long and crappy Monday, but suddenly he felt a sense of relief.

Eunhong got into Jaeha’s car, as familiar as his own home, and reclined the seat generously. The seat, warmed by the heating function, gave a tingling joy and relaxed his muscles. Eunhong stretched his back and made a dying sound.

“Ughhhh…”

“Is it hard?”

“The work itself isn’t hard. It’s actually fun.”

“The work itself?”

Jaeha was perceptive as ever. Eunhong fell into thought for a moment, then sat up straight. Jaeha’s eyebrow raised slightly. Eunhong tensed up, wondering what he was going to ask. Eunhong looked at Jaeha with round eyes.

“My friend is living with a friend, and that friend is an omega. My friend is a beta.”

“…Mmhmm.”

“But it seems that omega friend is having a lot of difficulties. But since my friend is a beta, he can’t… well, he can’t understand 100%. And since I’m a beta too, I don’t know either.”

“That’s right.”

Jaeha scratched his chin with a troubled expression. Hmm…. After mumbling for a while, he finally couldn’t hold back and said:

“You’re talking about An Woohyun, right?”

Eunhong’s eyes widened as he tried to deny it, but seeing Jaeha’s expression full of complete certainty, he couldn’t help but admit it.

“He says it’s hard because he’s an omega? He tells you such things?”

“No, not directly, but the alpha he’s meeting always…”

“The alpha he’s meeting isn’t good?”

“Yeah… a bit.”

“That can happen. 2-star trait holders instinctively divide along pheromone scents. But sometimes people meet regardless of recessive or dominant traits. Actually, what’s hard for An Woohyun isn’t because his trait is recessive…”

As Jaeha continued speaking, Eunhong found it harder to concentrate. It wasn’t that the content was difficult. Rather than explaining the world of 2-star trait holders that Eunhong didn’t know well, Jaeha brought up how Woohyun only played in bad waters.

He said that 2-star trait holders, who need to continuously meet partners due to pheromones, easily stabilize when they meet a good person.

Eunhong unknowingly hardened his expression. He furrowed his brow at an indescribable unpleasantness. Was it a sense of alienation? It bothered him that Jaeha was interested in Woohyun’s trait. It’s serious. And I’m the one who asked… Eunhong chewed on his lips.

After talking about Woohyun and traits for a while, Jaeha suddenly closed his mouth. It was because Eunhong’s expression had darkened, perhaps noticing his inner feelings of dislike towards Woohyun. Was it that obvious…? As Jaeha examined his face, Eunhong hurriedly erased his expression.

“So you’re saying you’ll take Woohyun to an alpha gathering you know?”

“…Bunhong.”

“Yeah?”

“Instead of stressing so much about him, why don’t you live with me?”

Eunhong’s mouth gaped open. Familiar with this reaction, Jaeha added:

“If you’re worried about his deposit and monthly rent, you can pay that. You just need to move in with me, that’s all.”

Hm? Jaeha tilted his head, urging Eunhong to answer. For a moment, Eunhong couldn’t bear how pathetic he felt about himself. Jaeha was opening up this path for him.

Lee Jaeha, who always found ways regarding Eunhong’s matters, Lee Jaeha who always had solutions. And Eunhong habitually and naturally relied on such a Lee Jaeha. Eunhong quickly erased the gloomy and damp thoughts filling his mind and shook his head.

“No, how could I do that?”

“……”

“You must have a lot of difficulties too, with pheromones and all… It’s ridiculous that I’m asking you about these things.”

Eunhong roughly ran his hand through his hair and turned his gaze outside. Am I relying on Jaeha too much? Have I become too accustomed to receiving? The solutions Lee Jaeha offered were always too easy, fast, and sweet.

“Jaeha, shall we go for a drink?”

Eunhong just wanted to share emotional parts with Jaeha. Wouldn’t that comfort from a best friend be enough?

A brief troubled look passed through Jaeha’s eyes. It hadn’t been 12 hours since he had taken the rut suppressant. Hmm…. As he hummed in contemplation, Eunhong turned his head to meet his gaze.

“Hm? Lee Jaeha?”

He made a gesture of holding a glass with his hand and tilted it back and forth. He even made sounds with his mouth, which was so cute that Jaeha had to laugh. Hmm? The round eyes asking again made him finally raise the white flag.

“Let’s go.”

Jaeha turned the steering wheel gently with a smile on his face.

The cocktail bar Jaeha took Eunhong to was very quiet. The place, without even a noticeable sign, was empty and silent. Though the spacious interior was vacant, the decor, mainly using dark oak wood, created a cozy atmosphere under the yellow pin lights. Especially, one entire wall was made of glass, offering a decent view of the night city at a glance.

As Eunhong was clicking his tongue, wondering how they manage to pay rent with so few customers in such a place, Jaeha smoothly took a seat at the bar table. The bartender greeted Jaeha politely, seeming to recognize him.

Eunhong, who had to go to work tomorrow, ordered beer, while Jaeha ordered whiskey on the rocks.

“Come on, drink up, drink up.”

Despite the brake of it being Monday, Eunhong drank steeply. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, pouring carbonation that stabbed the inner walls into his stomach.

“Drink slowly. Like you said, it’s Monday.”

Jaeha frowned, surprised at Eunhong’s drinking pace. He signaled the bartender, who handed over a glass filled with water and lemon instead of beer. Eunhong grabbed Jaeha’s arm hastily.

“Hey, no. What’s this already after just one beer?”

Jaeha’s arm flinched in surprise at the touch. The glass with a large round ice cube made a clinking sound.

Having emptied the 500cc beer in one go, Eunhong munched on seaweed snacks and urged for the next glass to be filled. On days when stress peaks, beer tastes even better.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Empty beer glasses piled up on the table as Eunhong put them down. Eunhong rambled on about his day to Jaeha. Having heard so much over time, Jaeha knew who was at the company and who Eunhong’s friends were.

Occasional Christmas carols mixed in with the quiet jazz music. The bartender’s quiet movements flowed like a slowly turning film.

Eunhong suddenly looked at Jaeha, who was listening intently to his words with one arm propping up his chin. The small candle flickering on the table drew a reddish outline on Jaeha’s eyes. His lips, occasionally responding with “Mm,” “Yeah,” “That’s right,” as he listened to Eunhong, were pretty.

“Jaeha, you’re now…”

He almost said “pretty.” Being in his line of work, Eunhong often had an aesthetic eye, and he often found himself lost in thought while looking at Jaeha’s face.

“Hm? I’m what?”

And Lee Jaeha never missed such moments.