COAC 42

When he turned his head, Kim Chayeon was already right in front of him. Before he could even ask what was going on, his arm shot out first. A rough but unhesitating force helplessly snatched Do Hyeonjun’s body. Whoosh, along with an unfamiliar body heat flooding over him, his vision was completely filled with a firm chest.

The hot body temperature, the breath brushing past his ear, and the sound of a heart beating a little faster than his own were too close. No, Kim Chayeon’s heart wouldn’t be beating fast, so it must be my own heartbeat. Held in Kim Chayeon’s embrace, Do Hyeonjun just blinked his eyes. At first, he didn’t recognize the situation, but then heat rushed to his face belatedly. He reflexively pulled his upper body back.

“Stay still. If you don’t want to collapse again from pheromone deficiency.”

What Kim Chayeon said was wrong. Strictly speaking, he had never collapsed. Though he had come close to it. However, he didn’t have the courage to hug Kim Chayeon back, so he let his arms hang awkwardly. The anxiety, like a headache that always lingered in his mind, slowly subsided as he felt Kim Chayeon’s warmth.

His dissonant physical condition returned to normal as if by a lie. Is this the stabilizing effect that an imprinting partner provides? I guess it was a delusion to think I was fine until now. I wasn’t okay at all. It was a strange feeling, miraculous yet not entirely comfortable.

Separate from his body getting better, it was difficult to remain embraced like this. He fidgeted his shoulders while pushing his hips back. At that moment, Kim Chayeon’s eyebrows shot up. The slight gap that had formed vanished without a trace as he pulled him back into an embrace, putting strength into his arms again.

Perhaps because he was still managing his pheromones thoroughly, Kim Chayeon didn’t have the suffocating scent he had during his cycle. Instead, Kim Chayeon’s unique body scent gently drifted to the tip of his nose. A ticklish fragrance emanating from the skin, different from fabric softener or perfume. After hesitating for a long while, he raised his arms a little and clumsily held onto Kim Chayeon’s waist.

“Smells nice…”

Thump!

Before he could finish the words he had muttered unconsciously, his upper body was roughly pushed away. He froze as if cold water had been thrown on his languidly relaxed mind. When he barely steadied his staggering body and raised his head, Kim Chayeon was staring fixedly at him.

The warmth that had been touching him just moments before was gone without a trace, and a chilly contempt had surfaced in his pitch-black eyes.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. Do you think I did this to satisfy you? It’s disgusting, so don’t you ever spew that kind of crap again.”

He was dumbfounded by the sudden verbal abuse.

“Isn’t that too harsh? You’re treating me like some kind of plague.”

“Don’t you think you, who can’t even manage your pheromones properly and imprinted on me as you pleased, are worse?”

“Hey. Kim Chayeon.”

Kim Chayeon, who had spat out the cold words, went into his room. Slam. The sound of the door closing echoed loudly, unbefitting of the quiet house. It was a reaction as fierce as when he had found out he was an Omega. Why is he acting like that all of a sudden? Don’t tell me, is it because I hugged him back? Because I was enjoying it while he was forcing himself to do something he didn’t want to?

How long had he been standing there? He slowly raised his head at the sound of the door opening again. How long had he been standing there? He slowly raised his head at the sound of the door opening. Kim Chayeon came out of the room.

The blue knit sweater he had been wearing just moments before was gone without a trace; he was dressed in black from head to toe. An explicit rejection, an unwillingness to leave even a trace of himself, of the contact just a moment ago. Do Hyeonjun felt all the blood in his body drain coldly to his toes.

“Hey. You’re really too much. I know you got dragged into my business, but do you have to make it so obvious? We still have the time we spent together.”

“The time we spent together? The time you ruined?”

“…”

There was nothing he could say. Kim Chayeon, with a sharp expression, passed by Do Hyeonjun, who stood as if nailed to the spot.

Do Hyeonjun tapped his phone screen to check the time.

PM. 8:15

Kim Chayeon, who should have been home long ago, had yet to be heard from. In the past, he would have called right away and asked where he was, but now, he couldn’t even think of trying. Because they weren’t in that kind of relationship anymore.

“I don’t know either.”

He lay down on the bed with a sigh and tossed his phone to the side. However, he soon got up again and grabbed the vacuum cleaner.

Cleaning was one of Do Hyeonjun’s ways of relieving stress. Until now, he had been moving tentatively because it strongly felt like someone else’s house, but he couldn’t stand it anymore. After tidying up the things in his room once more, he went out to the living room. He vacuumed every nook and cranny and wiped the floor with a wet mop. It’s a detached house, separate from the neighbors, so there won’t be any noise complaints between floors.

By the time the cleaning was all done, it was well past 9 p.m. He washed his sweat-drenched body from cleaning and changed his clothes.

Let’s eat. When he came out to the living room again, Kim Chayeon was taking off his shoes at the entrance.

“You’re late. You must be very busy.”

“Didn’t we agree not to interfere in each other’s business?”

The unconcealed fatigue was thickly embedded in his tone of voice. He figured that if they continued the conversation, only sharp words would be exchanged, so he gave up on dinner and returned to his room.

Despite the satisfaction of cleaning, he tossed and turned that night as well. Just when he thought he had finally drifted off after turning over and over, he would inevitably think of Kim Chayeon, and his mind would snap wide awake. The next morning, after staying up practically all night with his eyes open, Do Hyeonjun headed to the shared laundry room with a dazed mind.

Do Hyeonjun, who was taking out and organizing the laundry he had put in the night before, picked up a t-shirt. A neat, plain white shirt. It was his, but for some reason, it looked unfamiliar today. His mind, submerged in fatigue, couldn’t make a proper judgment.

There was no time to dawdle. Class was starting soon.

He hurriedly put on the shirt and a pair of jeans and headed to school. The time at school felt like a precarious tightrope walk. Beside Seo Jeong, he laughed and chatted like usual, but in a corner of his mind, he constantly thought of Kim Chayeon. The firm body he had held and the fragrant body scent were as vivid as if they had happened just a moment ago. Then, he would inevitably recall the Kim Chayeon he saw when he was roughly pushed away. It was a relief that Kim Chayeon was busy today. Because he didn’t have to see him. He had lunch with just Seo Jeong, stopped by his club to polish off some snacks, and then returned home.

Kim Chayeon, who was said to be busy, had for some reason arrived first. Sitting on the living room sofa and tapping on his laptop, he raised his head and looked at Do Hyeonjun. The fingers that had been typing stopped. A chilly gaze swept over Do Hyeonjun at length.

“Since when have you been touching my clothes?”

“Huh?”

“The clothes you’re wearing right now, they’re mine.”

At first, he didn’t understand, then Do Hyeonjun bowed his head and looked down at his shirt.

“Ah… I must have gotten them mixed up this morning. I’m sorry. I’ll wash it clean for you.”

Even after hearing that, Kim Chayeon’s expression didn’t soften. Instead, his gaze became a little sharper.

“Didn’t I tell you? Not to do anything you’d have to be sorry for. And it’s unpleasant to have your pheromones left on my clothes.”

He was a recessive, so it was unlikely his pheromones would even rub off anyway. He wouldn’t even leave the slightest possibility open.

“I’ll have to throw that shirt away.”

Before his tattered heart could even heal, Kim Chayeon tore it to shreds again. The delusion that he had become very resilient while having a one-sided love for him was useless in front of the person himself. He remembered Kim Chayeon covering a drunk Seo Jeong with his own clothes when the three of them were drinking, which made him feel even more wretched.

“Fine, throw it away.”

He acted as if he was okay, but a part of his heart was growing painfully cold. Do Hyeonjun went straight into his room and changed his clothes. Then he came out again and threw the shirt he had been wearing just moments before into the living room trash can in front of Kim Chayeon. He couldn’t understand why he was being overly sensitive about a shirt he had worn by mistake.

“Are you happy now?”

This is really exhausting.

---

Three days after fighting over the clothes, the two visited the hospital again. The air in the waiting room, where they sat side by side, was several times heavier than before. Do Hyeonjun tried to keep his gaze fixed straight ahead, fidgeting with only his fingers. Kim Chayeon, sitting right next to him, was as still and rigid as a rock.

“Mr. Do Hyeonjun. Please come in.”

The atmosphere in the examination room was as expected. The doctor frowned as he looked at the monitor displaying Do Hyeonjun’s test results side by side. Putting down his pen with a sigh, the doctor looked at the two people alternately.

“In all my years as a doctor, I’ve never seen such an uncooperative guardian. These numbers now, they’re even worse than last time. I’m sure I explained what this graph means.”

He tapped the monitor. The red graph plummeting precariously on the screen showed that Do Hyeonjun’s pheromone stability level had dropped to a dangerous low.

“I’m tired of even saying it now. This means it wouldn’t be strange for the patient to collapse right here. Mr. Kim Chayeon, what you’re doing right now is neglect. Medical neglect.”

“…”

Neither of them had anything to say. Like a student being scolded, Do Hyeonjun lowered his head.

“This won’t do. You two, try holding hands right here, right now.”

“What?”

Do Hyeonjun asked back without realizing it. The doctor jutted his chin with an annoyed expression.

“Do it, hurry up.”

Kim Chayeon’s face contorted menacingly. But he couldn’t avoid the doctor’s pressing gaze and reluctantly held out his hand. Do Hyeonjun hesitated for a moment before placing his hand over it. Warmth flowed between their awkwardly touching palms.

“Now, let’s test again in this state.”

Following the nurse’s guidance, they underwent a simple stability test again while holding hands. In the suffocating air, Do Hyeonjun felt his heart pounding as if it would burst.

A short while later, the doctor pointed to the monitor again.