Pink Flavor Omega

#37

“Is this some kind of joke, changing traits back and forth?”

“Ham manifesting at that age is more of a joke. Can’t we even ask about it? Why are you glaring like that…?”

“Ah, that’s refreshing.”

Eunhong gulped down the beer until his throat hurt and made an exaggerated sound like a star in a commercial. He had been craving alcohol for a while due to his unsettled feelings, but couldn’t drink because of the suppressants he was taking. Now that he had just entered a stable period and changed medications, the beer he was drinking after a long time was truly refreshing.

Sunhong, who had been staring at Eunhong’s clear face, let out a weak laugh through his teeth. When Eunhong had dropped the bombshell at the dinner table about becoming an omega, Sunhong had thought he and mom would end up hugging and crying together, but he was relieved that Eunhong seemed surprisingly calm. Though he wasn’t sure if Eunhong was truly calm or just pretending to be. Speaking of omegas, Woohyun suddenly came to mind.

“Isn’t that Woohyun bastard jumping up and down about this? He must be going crazy with jealousy. He’s a recessive, right? My memory’s a bit fuzzy, but I clearly remember him throwing a fit whenever anyone even mentioned his recessive status.”

“Watch your language. Woohyun’s mother might hear you. He’s still your older brother, no matter what.”

Eunhong scolded, looking around the empty surroundings. There wasn’t much sincerity in his words, so Sunhong just shrugged and chuckled.

“That bastard used to pick fights with me when I was in elementary school and he was in high school. Such a twisted personality. Hehe.”

“Tell me about yourself. Are you still seeing Jiyeon these days?”

“It’s been ages since we broke up and I started seeing someone else. Why are you bringing her up? We decided to go our separate ways when I joined the military. I didn’t think it was good for her life to make her wait for me.”

Eunhong’s eyes widened.

“Wow, after being inseparable since elementary school. I thought you two were going to get married.”

“Don’t even mention it. After seriously dating and then breaking up, we’re worse than strangers now. We can barely even greet each other when we run into each other.”

“That’s too bad. Jiyeon was like a little sister to me.”

“I guess that was as far as it was meant to go between us. We should have just stayed friends. Mom still talks about Jiyeon though.”

“I know. It’s really not easy to completely cut ties with someone.”

Thoughts naturally drifted to the past. Jiyeon was the girl who had acted as a bridge between the awkward relationship of Sunhong and Eunhong when Eunhong moved down to Busan after Jaeha disappeared. He remembered that she lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, and came over to the brothers’ house almost every day to eat meals and do homework together. For Sunhong, who lived with his grandmother, that girl was both a friend and family.

But now they’ve become strangers, and all the affection poured into that relationship seemed futile. Looking at it that way, the relationship between Jaeha and himself, which had once been severed, had somehow managed to reconnect. Perhaps their reunion was something of a miracle.

Eunhong’s gaze suddenly turned towards the window of the guest house. An unconscious uneasiness made him look for Jaeha.

Inside the lit guest house, mom was opening the gifts Jaeha had brought. It would be nice if she just admired the gifts while opening them, but she was busy organizing them too. Putting the Korean beef in the kimchi refrigerator, placing the alcohol on the shelf, putting the flower tea in the kitchen, putting the nutritional supplements in the main bedroom… Jaeha, who had become an errand boy, looked very busy.

Following Eunhong’s gaze, Sunhong sniffled and stood up abruptly.

“Why is mom making Ham do all that? She’s being silly. I’ll go rescue Jaeha hyung.”

“Leave them be. Jaeha likes Mrs. Jin, that’s why he’s doing it. Mom has wanted to adopt Jaeha as her son for a long time. They get along well.”

After organizing the gifts for a while, the two of them now sat down and started doing something. As Eunhong said, Jaeha had liked Kyunghee since he was young. The two of them, fiddling with something, seemed to be having quite a serious conversation.

Mom, who was saying something while looking directly at Jaeha’s face, stood up and comforted Jaeha, who looked twice her size, by patting him. Eunhong guessed it was probably about Jaeha’s mother, who was also a friend of Kyunghee’s. The death anniversary was coming up soon… Eunhong quietly folded his fingers, counting the days.

That day back then was also very cold. It was not long after the new year had started, and it was that time when you really didn’t want to go back to school after the winter break was over. He remembered being happy that mom, who was hard to see because she was taking care of dad in the hospital, had come to see him again so soon.

For some reason, mom’s face was full of tears. Eunhong sat next to Jaeha, wearing a black suit for the first time in his life. Throughout the journey to the burial ground, Jaeha was silent, and Eunhong was gloomy in the depressing atmosphere.

While the sisters cried until their eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, Jaeha didn’t cry. He just stared blankly into the distance. He did let out small sighs occasionally. Caught up in the atmosphere, only Eunhong cried loudly for no reason. Jaeha just quietly hugged Eunhong. Mom embraced both of them at once and comforted them. Even then, it was difficult to hug them both at once, but in any case, there was no problem in comforting them.

Was it from then on? Jaeha would occasionally say, “Let’s go see your mom.” Eunhong was always more than happy to. After school, they would tell the driver to take them to the hospital where dad was admitted. There, they would have dinner with mom, play for a while, and then go home. Mom would always hug Jaeha and say, “Do you want to be my son too? Since you’re taller than Eunhong, I’ll make you the oldest brother.”

Every time that happened, Jaeha would seriously say he didn’t want to. Eunhong burst into laughter as he remembered young Jaeha’s expression while drinking his beer. As he wiped the beer that had spilled on his mouth while chuckling, Sunhong looked at him, saying he was being silly.

“What are you giggling about, hyung? Are you drunk?”

“No, I just remembered something funny.”

Sunhong waited for more, but Eunhong, after shaking his shoulders with laughter for a while, pointed towards the guest house and said, “The two of them sitting there talking look like mother and son.”

“Mom still seems to haven’t given up on adopting Jaeha as her son.”

“Ah, right. Right. Hyung. Jaeha hyung might be okay with other things, but he hates that idea. But why does he hate it so much?”

“I don’t know either. He just says it’s absolutely not possible.”

Now that he thought about it, he should ask why it’s not possible later. Eunhong smiled and crumpled his beer can, throwing it into the basket.

***

“How are we going to sleep?”

The already small living room of the house became even darker with three men standing in it. “Was our ceiling always this low?” Kyunghee asked, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Besides Sunhong’s room and the main bedroom, there was only the living room.

“I’ll sleep on the sofa. You two can sleep together in my room.”

“Is it okay for them to sleep together? Now, um… isn’t it not allowed?”

Kyunghee carefully looked at Jaeha and Eunhong’s faces as she asked in response to Sunhong’s words. As everyone in the family except Eunhong was beta, they didn’t know much about the lives of alphas and omegas, but they had heard many rumors over the years, so it would be a lie to say they weren’t worried.

Eunhong blinked and said seriously. The idea of awkwardly separating him and Jaeha for sleeping arrangements was unbearably ticklish.

“It’s fine, we can sleep together! What’s the big deal, we used to bathe together naked when we were kids, why are you being like this now? It’s gross!”

The reward for his bold declaration was a smack on the back that made it sting.

“The three of you sleep together in the main bedroom. I’ll sleep in Sunhong’s room.”

With only one bathroom, it took ages for everyone to wash up in turn. Eunhong, who washed up last, checked on his mother’s sleeping arrangements once before going to the main bedroom. Sunhong, who had gone in first, was taking out and laying down the bedding. Although the main bedroom wasn’t small for mom to use alone, it became full when they laid out sleeping spaces for three adult men.

“Hyung, you lie down in the middle. Jaeha hyung, please lie down on the innermost side. I’ll lie down on the side near the door.”

While Eunhong hesitated, Sunhong quickly grabbed a pillow and lay down in his spot. Unlike his bold declaration earlier, Eunhong found himself awkwardly shuffling as he tried to lie down together. Eunhong carefully lifted the thick blanket and lay down between the two, being extremely careful not to touch any part of their bodies.

As Eunhong settled into his spot, Jaeha squirmed a bit and turned to face Eunhong. Afraid their gazes might meet, Eunhong quickly looked up at the ceiling. He felt ticklish from the gaze on his cheek.

Being winter, with all doors and windows closed, the room seemed filled with the breath of the three of them. Eunhong stubbornly lay straight, feeling strange about turning towards Jaeha and disliking the idea of turning towards his brother even more. After a while, his back started to feel stiff.

As he was timidly tossing and turning, Sunhong let out a shallow sigh and abruptly got up. His phone screen lit up, brightening the surroundings.

“Hyung, I’m sorry. I’m going to go smoke a cigarette.”

Grumbling that he had only picked up more smoking in the military, Sunhong left the room.

Watching the door close quietly, Eunhong suddenly turned his head to look at Jaeha. He was still in the same position, looking at Eunhong without moving since earlier. The awkward atmosphere became even thicker. Feeling uncomfortable and unable to sleep, Eunhong glumly spoke up.

“Maybe we should have gone to a hotel. We’re here because I was thinking about my mom, but you’re uncomfortable…”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Do you want to go to a hotel now?”

“No, I like it here.”

Jaeha rustled as he moved a hand span closer. Startled by the sudden movement, Eunhong tensed up. Trying to hide his nervousness, he deliberately searched for a topic of conversation.

“Come to think of it, don’t you smoke anymore? Sunhong seems to have become a heavy smoker while I wasn’t looking.”

“…Yeah. I don’t smoke anymore.”

“Why? Did you quit recently?”

Eunhong was surprised by the simple and straightforward answer. Didn’t they say not to associate with people who quit smoking so easily? Tough guy, he thought as he looked at Jaeha.

“Just, I don’t need it anymore. It’s also useless now.”