COAC 37

“You’re very popular.”

He didn’t know how many people had greeted Lee Dojae while they were sitting on the bench. Only the last man had directly asked him to eat, but the friendly gazes directed at him continued to linger around the bench.

“Well, it’s because my cycle is getting close. Before and after my cycle, pheromones leak out a little, no matter how many suppressants I take. I guess it feels a bit different to people. Isn’t it the same for you, Mr. Hyeonjun?”

Hearing the word ‘cycle,’ Do Hyeonjun looked over Lee Dojae once again. He didn’t seem like an omega, so was he an alpha? He became certain as he looked at his sturdy build and his handsome face with its strong, defined lines.

“I don’t think it really has anything to do with my cycle.”

“Aha. So you’re saying omegas just flock to you even without pheromones? With your face, Mr. Hyeonjun, that’s entirely possible. I admit it.”

Lee Dojae said playfully, the corners of his mouth twitching. Do Hyeonjun wet his throat with the bottled water he had brought.

“There have been omegas who’ve shown interest, but most of them keep their distance once they find out we’re the same secondary gender. As for alphas… um, none have ever approached me first.”

After he started college, for a while, quite a few people asked for his number or gave him their contact information. Most were betas, but there were several omegas too. However, when they learned that Do Hyeonjun was a recessive omega, they all gave him an awkward smile.

“Well, it’s rare for an alpha to be attracted to another alpha, after all.”

Lee Dojae nodded, agreeing with him. Hmm? For a little while now, it felt like the conversation was somehow slightly off track.

“I’m an omega.”

“What? An omega? Who is?”

Lee Dojae’s upper body jolted as if he was about to leap up from his seat.

Was the fact that he was an omega that surprising? In some ways, it was a rude reaction, but Do Hyeonjun was used to it by now. After ‘your expression is really cold’ and ‘you seem to have a bad personality,’ the third most common thing he heard was, ‘You’re an omega, not an alpha?’

As Do Hyeonjun remained quiet without any particular reaction, Lee Dojae, with a look of realization, hastily made an excuse.

“No, it’s just… you’re so handsome. Ah, is that prejudice? Mr. Hyeonjun, you’re also tall, and your body is really nice… ah, that’s prejudice too.”

“I’m extremely recessive, so I’m the same as a beta… well, not exactly, but I know what you mean. You can stop.”

If he were truly the same as a beta, that terrible thing wouldn’t have happened. The present, after having slept with Kim Chayeon, was more miserable and agonizing. To the point where he missed the days when he was heartsick from a hopeless one-sided love.

“So you were an omega. My cycle is starting soon, should I sit further away if you’re uncomfortable? For the record, I took my suppressants.”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Because he was imprinted on Kim Chayeon, he didn’t react to other alphas’ pheromones. He could recognize what scent they had, but it wouldn’t trigger his heat. When he gave a faint smile to show he didn’t need to worry, Lee Dojae slightly averted his gaze and scratched his cheek.

“It must be tough if your rut is coming soon.”

Do Hyeonjun asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes. It’s already long and intense, so you can consider me pretty much dead for about three or four days. By the time the rut is over, my mouth only tastes of the bitterness of suppressants.”

The word suppressants made him think of Kim Chayeon. He also managed his ruts with suppressants. Kim Chayeon’s cycle was usually every two months, so he hoped his own imprinting would be broken before then. It was laughable that he was hoping for things to ‘end well’ after things had come to this, but he didn’t want to end things while they were entangled in this worst possible way.

—Hyeonjun. Where are you? Are you busy?

“Home. Not really busy.”

—Great. I’m on my way to your place now. Let’s have a drink, the three of us with Chayeon, for the first time in a while.

“What?”

He shot up from his sprawled-out position on the bed.

“I have to go out right now. I forgot I had plans.”

—If it’s not an urgent appointment, postpone it. I’ll stop by the mart and pick up some drinks and snacks. See you in a bit.

“No, Seo Jeong. Hey.”

Do Hyeonjun’s urgent voice was futilely swallowed by the click of the disconnected call. Call Ended. As he stared blankly at the two words on the screen, warning bells went off in his head. Seo Jeong is coming. To his studio apartment. Right now.

Seo Jeong didn’t know that he was living with Kim Chayeon. In the first place, that was the first condition Kim Chayeon had set. He had said he was at home, so if he wasn’t there, Seo Jeong would obviously find it strange.

This is crazy. What was Kim Chayeon doing, not stopping him? Do Hyeonjun swallowed a curse and ran out to the entrance. Barely grabbing his wallet and phone, he shoved his feet messily into his shoes. Sitting in the back seat of a hastily hailed taxi, he contacted Kim Chayeon.

[Seo Jeong says he’s in front of our apartment now.] 7:03 PM

A call came through immediately.

—Where is Jeong right now?

“Our place. Weren’t you with Seo Jeong?”

—I just went to see a professor for a minute. How does Jeong know our address? Did you tell him?

“What would I tell him? It’s obvious you’d freak out like this. Seo Jeong has always just dropped by unannounced.”

—So how did he get the address… Ah. Your studio?

“Where else would it be?”

—…

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line. Did it get disconnected? He lowered the phone he had pressed tightly to his ear and checked the screen, but the call was still connected.

…I’ll contact Jeong to make him arrive a little later.

After ending the call with Kim Chayeon, Do Hyeonjun leaned back against the seat as if collapsing. Secrets made a person this cowardly. Words got tangled, and actions became awkward. The guilt of deceiving Seo Jeong and the uncomfortable feeling of having stolen a place that might have originally been his seeped out, sticky like the sweat on his palms.

Fortunately, he arrived a step ahead of Seo Jeong and deliberately made the things inside the apartment moderately messy. He left a book he was reading open on the sofa and placed a water glass he had been drinking from on the dining table. The moment he took out a pot and had just set it down on the gas stove, Seo Jeong and Kim Chayeon appeared with the sound of the door lock.

“You’re keeping the place clean, huh? It doesn’t seem much different from when I cleaned it up and left last time.”

Of course. This was the first time he’d been back to the studio since then. It was a huge relief that he’d arrived first and created a sense of it being lived in. If not, Seo Jeong would have questioned him and his difficult situation would have been exposed. Kim Chayeon wouldn’t have let that happen, but there was no harm in being careful.

“Is this the first time you two are seeing each other today? It was a day with no electives, and Chayeon was busy.”

Actually, they had seen each other at home this morning. It wasn’t intentional; they just happened to run into each other in the living room. Although it was just him one-sidedly staring at the back of Kim Chayeon, who walked past without even a glance.

“…You didn’t buy a lot of snacks, did you? Should I make something?”

He deliberately changed the subject and rummaged through the bag. It contained soju and canned beer, a few types of salty snacks, cheese beef jerky, and sausages. As Do Hyeonjun opened the refrigerator door, Kim Chayeon stopped him. Kim Chayeon, who had smoothly closed the half-open refrigerator door, opened his mouth.

“Just order delivery.”

“Yeah. Hyeonjun. Let’s order chicken. I’ll order it.”

Seo Jeong agreed and opened a delivery app. I wonder which place is good. I should order from a place with lots of reviews. Seo Jeong muttered as he leaned against the back of the sofa.

Do Hyeonjun stood there awkwardly for a moment, then slightly opened the refrigerator door again to look inside. On the shelves filled with cool air, there was only a bottle of water with a whitened, lifted label and a container of sauce with hardened contents. Anyone could tell it was the refrigerator of someone who had been away from home for a long time. So this was why Kim Chayeon said to order delivery. He would have to stop by the studio from time to time to check on it from now on.

“Seo Jeong, you’re drinking a lot these days, huh? It hasn’t been that many days since you came over to my place.”

“Ha, your hyung-nim had one of those days today. This assignment was about expressing anger through a sequence, right? So I really dug through all the references and structured it around symbolic metaphors. But what the professor said was, he gets the intention, but it’s too direct and childish. He said it’s like a grade-schooler’s book report, not a third-year university assignment. I really stayed up for days because of that…”

“That professor is notoriously strict. Don’t take it too much to heart.”

“The shock hasn’t worn off yet. Hyeonjun, did you have your meeting?”

“Not yet. My turn will probably come around next Thursday?”

“Right. Make sure you tell me when you have your meeting. Your hyung-nim will buy you a drink.”

“Uh-huh. Thanks.” he replied somewhat half-heartedly and brought soju glasses from the cupboard. In the meantime, Kim Chayeon had opened the snacks and beef jerky to make them easy to eat. Seo Jeong took out a soju bottle and opened the cap with a flick of his wrist.

Before long, the doorbell rang, and the chicken arrived, steaming hot. Seo Jeong emptied his glass at a much faster pace than usual. His face was already flushed red, as if he was furious about being on the professor’s bad side.

“Kim Chayeon, Do Hyeonjun.”

Leaning back on the sofa, Seo Jeong called out to them, his pronunciation slightly slurred.