RCKS 27

Even though it would have been fine for him to press for more, he didn’t ask for an instant reply or anything more than that. Meaning, he wouldn’t be disappointed even if Hwang Haekyung’s reply was late. He didn’t seem to want to show off his friendship with him, nor did he ask for pictures or for them to share every detail of their daily lives.

Even just today, he had an expression that showed he couldn’t even imagine being the one to approach first and make a move. Naturally, there was no sexual appeal at all. So, he was just a cute younger brother. And Hwang Haekyung was the hyung who had only just now mastered how to find such a Lee Yoonsan cute.

Therefore, it was unacceptable for him to be condemned like that just because Lee Yoonsan’s gender was omega.

“I hope nothing happened, son.”

“We’re not in that kind of relationship. I just, I just watched him from afar. From a distance where our pheromones couldn’t even reach.”

“And the other kid knows that you did that?”

“…Yeah.”

“And even so, that kid felt nothing toward you?”

“…”

He couldn’t answer rashly. Because he knew that Lee Yoonsan’s pheromones had leaked. That was proof that his emotions had fluctuated or that he had been stirred. However, such a disturbance could easily happen for reasons other than the sexual one between an alpha and an omega. Wasn’t Lee Yoonsan also a minor whose hormones and pheromones were still unstable?

“Haekyung, the very act of showing and reacting to each other’s emotions is dangerous.”

Hwang Joonwon’s voice was bitter. He hadn’t wanted to bring up this kind of talk with his son either. It was a conversation they wouldn’t have even had in the first place if his son had been a beta. Like any normal family, he would have playfully teased his son, who seemed to have found someone he liked, and they would have talked about that person.

He would have asked since when he started liking her, how much he liked her, and if it was a person he, as his father, had heard of. He would have told him to treat her well, cherished that youthful innocence, and given him more allowance, telling him to buy delicious things to eat together.

But his son was an alpha, and his hormone levels were very high. Problems were likely to arise the moment the hormones, filled to the brim, and the pheromones induced by them, affected others. And those problems would leave aftereffects, one way or another. Whether for his son, or for someone else.

From what Hwang Joonwon could see, Hwang Haekyung had no idea how dangerous pheromones triggered by hormones could be. Of course, it would be nice if he could become an adult without ever understanding it for the rest of his life, but he knew that was just a parent’s wish. People always flocked around Hwang Haekyung, and among them were many with secondary genders.

Right now, since he moved within a tightly managed schedule, he likely wouldn’t have the spare energy to pay them any mind, but it was clear that with even the slightest opening, he would be exposed to the temptations of numerous human relationships. Just as most somewhat famous people were.

“There won’t be anyone who isn’t stirred when you personally go to see them and watch them from that far away, son.”

But in the end, Hwang Joonwon chose to lighten the mood. His son’s condition at the moment seemed no different from usual, and if he hadn’t caused any immediate problems, there was no need for excessive discipline or control. Because that could instead provoke defiance. Hwang Joonwon and his wife had already learned little by little how to use the carrot and the stick while raising Hwang Haekyung. It was just a shame that they couldn’t be perfect from the start.

“There’s never been a moment since you were born that you weren’t wonderful.”

“…That’s cheesy.”

“I’m serious. You’re my and Seonmi’s son, after all.”

“I get it, so go to sleep now. Mom must be sleeping alone right now.”

“I’m letting it go because it looks like nothing happened. If you’ve decided to protect someone, protect them to the end. And remember that your unstable pheromones can be dangerous to that person, too.”

“…I said I get it.”

The conversation between father and son ended like that. Hwang Joonwon, looking at his son who answered sullenly, rose from the bed, tapped the rabbit ear headband hanging on the headboard with his fingertip, and then left the room. The jet-black rabbit ears, which he had said he brought back from the amusement park last year, were the only cute item in his grown-up son’s room.

After his father left, Hwang Haekyung quickly washed up in the attached bathroom, changed his clothes, and lay down on the bed. He tapped the rabbit ear headband his father had touched a few times himself, then tried putting it on the pile of blankets next to him. Since the blanket was a solid color, it looked just like a ghost rabbit.

Hwang Haekyung took a picture of it and sent it to Lee Yoonsan. Since today was the anniversary of them conversing via text message, a text message was the medium. And after waiting a little, a reply came right away. It was a picture of Hwang Haekyung’s windbreaker draped over Lee Yoonsan’s pillow.

“…The things he does are really cute.”

Why didn’t I know this when we were younger? Why did I think all of Lee Yoonsan’s affectionate actions like this were just things he did to be liked by my mom and dad?

Hwang Haekyung pondered such thoughts for a long time while looking at the picture Lee Yoonsan sent. Then it suddenly occurred to him that it would have been even better if this time, too, it had been a picture of Lee Yoonsan wearing his windbreaker. It was a sense of disappointment brought on by the very straightforwardness of Lee Yoonsan that Hwang Haekyung had found so favorable.