#4
#4
“Even you should know that’s not okay.”
Eunhong replied indifferently while fiddling with his phone. Suddenly, smooth fingers reached out and snatched Eunhong’s phone away. It happened in an instant. While Eunhong was grasping at air, Jaeha tapped the screen a few times to cancel the transfer.
“You don’t even have money. Are you going to starve until payday after sending the ticket money?”
“Hey! Why are you looking at someone else’s balance? And I have an emergency credit card, you know!”
Eunhong’s face turned red, suddenly exposed by Jaeha. Jaeha spoke with a thick expression.
“Do you search desperately when you lose even ten won?”
“…You’re not about to say what I think you are, right?”
“I’m telling you not to worry about it since it’s meaningless money to me.”
“Ah, you’re really annoying, Lee Jaeha.”
Despite his words, Eunhong’s expression wasn’t that sour. Certainly, when it came to Eunhong, Jaeha intuitively knew the line. He knew how much Eunhong could swallow easily and from where he would start feeling uncomfortable, like a fish bone stuck in his throat.
Come to think of it, it was Eunhong’s fault for drooling over the musical talk in front of Jaeha. Knowing full well that Jaeha would get it for him… After years of comfortably receiving, it seems he had become habituated. Jaeha had said even ten won, but somehow Eunhong felt like another stone had settled in his heart.
Watching Eunhong, who seemed like he might dig all the way to the Earth’s inner core if left alone, Jaeha clicked his tongue. He tapped the table a few times and then dropped a casual remark.
“Is the heating good in your monthly rent room these days?”
“Hey!”
Eunhong, who had shouted loudly, shrank his neck like a turtle at the gazes pouring on him.
“That gas cut-off story is from so long ago, why are you still bringing it up?”
As Eunhong muttered in a whisper-like lowered voice, Jaeha burst out laughing. Intending to fill those pouty cheeks with more, he pushed the plate in front of him towards Eunhong with his fingertips, urging him to eat quickly.
“Alright, eat quickly then.”
Being winter, there were only the two of them in the terrace area set up as a smoking space. As a result, they naturally received glances from people passing by on the street. Moreover, Jaeha was too eye-catching.
Eunhong was poking at his plate with a fork when he saw Jaeha take out another cigarette and put it in his mouth. Watching the blue smoke rise, he muttered, “Chain smoker.” The cigarettes smoked by secondary sex characteristic individuals have a unique smoke color that catches the eye. At first, one might look at the smoke, but soon the gaze is drawn to where it’s flowing from. Eunhong suddenly lowered his head and turned his gaze away.
“What’s with the melancholy of sitting on a terrace eating in this cold weather? Cut down on that smoking a bit. You should eat things that are good for your body, Jaeha. Have you eaten? You’ve only been watching me eat this whole time.”
“Don’t worry, my body is better than yours.”
Since Jaeha’s words weren’t wrong, Eunhong unconsciously touched his own chest. Exercise was always one of those things he only thought about doing… Eunhong’s face fell as he touched his own soft body. Jaeha stubbed out his cigarette after only two puffs and pinched Eunhong’s cheek, stretching it out.
“So soft and squishy.”
“Ah, stop it!”
Eunhong slapped Jaeha’s hand away with a smack and rubbed his own cheek, smelling it. Then he dusted off his body and pulled at his clothes to check the smell.
“People say I smell like an alpha because of you. Get that cigarette smoke away from me. Can’t you respect your one and only friend?”
“You’re one to talk. Do you have another friend like me? Buying you meals, getting you tickets.”
At the mention of tickets, Eunhong bit his lips. He put down the food he had been poking at, looked at his watch, and stood up. When he said he had to go, Jaeha stood up too.
He picked up the thick scarf hanging beside his seat and wrapped it around Eunhong. He wrapped it twice, tied a loose knot, and patted it.
Eunhong deliberately avoided looking at the brand logo attached to the scarf. He knew that if he tried to take it off in alarm, Jaeha would likely throw it in the trash given his temperament, so he quietly stood still as it was tied. He planned to secretly put it in Jaeha’s car later when he got the chance.
After tying the scarf and fiddling with Eunhong’s clothes, Jaeha lowered his eyes to meet Eunhong’s gaze.
“It’s Saturday, let’s hang out more. Why are you going to the office?”
“I have a lot of work to do. It’s a deadline.”
“Hmm…”
Jaeha tilted his head and stared intently at Eunhong, looking for any room for negotiation. Not missing the trembling in Eunhong’s eyes, he buried his forehead in Eunhong’s shoulder. Can’t we do it at my place? Eunhong was flustered. He could clearly feel Jaeha’s temperature as he pressed against him, whispering.
“No, no way! You, you crazy bastard.”
“I told you to use pretty words, Pinky.”
Jaeha frowned as his forehead was pushed away. Eunhong seized the opportunity to snatch the bill and dash off. Jaeha watched as Eunhong ran towards the counter, swinging his arms and legs widely, and smiled deeply, curling up the corners of his mouth. How cute, trying so hard.
Jaeha took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth, trying to cover up Eunhong’s subtle scent that had clung to him. The beta friend’s scent, more addictive than cigarettes, had the power to render Jaeha helpless.
***
Eunhong crumpled up the bill as he left the café where he had lunch and walked towards his company. He had thought that Jaeha might have paid in advance… but he didn’t know that Jaeha was the owner of the building where the café was located.
When Eunhong held out his card, the café manager, with a troubled face, said that the part-timer had made a mistake and that there was a lot of prepayment left, so he didn’t need to worry about it.
Eunhong buried his nose in the scarf Jaeha had tied. The scent that wafted up was a perfume Eunhong knew well. He fiddled with the triangular metal brand logo and then just shoved his hand into his pocket.
The company was just one block away from Jaeha’s building, so he arrived quickly. Eunhong took the elevator to the 8th floor and scanned his key card at the glass door. The door opened smoothly with a sleek sound.
In the empty office, sensor lights turned on pop-pop-pop as Eunhong moved. As he passed through several areas divided by high partitions and entered the team area, the small conference room door opened and a man with a shiny bald head came out carrying a laptop.
Small eyes distorted behind thick glasses lit up with joy upon seeing Eunhong.
“Eunhong, why are you at the office on a Saturday?”
“Oh… Mr. Gil, you were here. I couldn’t meet all the deadlines.”
Gil Dong-wook, the video production team leader, smiled sluggishly. He seemed to be trying to act shy, but due to his sallow complexion, Eunhong found him creepy.
He leaned on the partition next to Eunhong’s desk, resting his arm. Even after Eunhong had removed his scarf, busily organized his desk, turned on his PC, and even launched his programs, he didn’t leave. Eunhong finally looked up with an expression asking if he had something to say.
“Heheh, is Eunhong’s schedule tight?”
“Super tight. The 3D team leader is going crazy asking for original drawings when we haven’t even finished processing all the work…”
Gil Dong-wook was Eunhong’s former coworker. They hadn’t planned and changed jobs together, but they were surprised to meet again by chance, and Gil Dong-wook was so happy that he even called it fate. Although it was easier to speak his mind to him than to other employees, Eunhong didn’t want to dress up their relationship by using words like fate.
“I’m busy, but… don’t you have no work, Mr. Gil? The video part finished the first deadline, right?”
It was a subtle hint that he wanted to work quietly and wondered why Gil was hanging around, but it didn’t get through to Gil Dong-wook.
“Why would I have no work? We’re super busy too, but hey, Eunhong.”
Gil Dong-wook smiled, squinting his already small eyes.
“Eunhong, are you really a beta? Your pheromone scent is so strong. It smells so good.”
“No, it’s not. My friend is an alpha…”
Eunhong’s gaze flickered towards the scarf. He thought that perhaps Jaeha’s scent, which only secondary sex characteristic individuals could smell, was deeply infused along with the perfume smell.
Although Eunhong couldn’t smell it himself, he reflexively put his nose to his body and sniffed. At times like this, Eunhong felt a bit regretful. Every person who misunderstood his characteristic said that Jaeha’s smell was so good… But Eunhong had no way of knowing.
“Really? Does alpha pheromone change when it gets on a beta? It smells like omega coming from you, so it’s easy to misunderstand. Especially since you have the perfect omega look.”
“What’s an omega look supposed to be?”
You idiot who can’t even distinguish alpha scent. Swallowing those words, Eunhong laughed it off.
It was unclear whether Gil Dong-wook, a recessive alpha, had a broken pheromone radar or if his nose was originally damaged, but he had been hitting on Eunhong like this for so long that even if Eunhong retorted that it was sexual harassment, it would be dismissed as a joke.
Well, he wasn’t really an omega, but a beta. Although it felt disgusting, he couldn’t call it sexual harassment. It was just seen as a mischievous joke between men. Just that level of acceptance.
Eunhong awkwardly smiled as he turned on the drawing program and opened the work file. Now he really had no time for chitchat. He couldn’t afford to waste Sunday on company work, so he had to finish the work today.
“Anyway, good job.”
Gil Dong-wook finally left after touching Eunhong one last time. Worried that the smell might have remained on the shoulder Gil had stroked, Eunhong dusted it off with his hand before turning his gaze to the monitor.