DFLT 54

Like Seo Heonyoung, he was a realist, but it seemed he had an unexpectedly sentimental side to him as well.

“Ah, please recommend a few movies you enjoyed. I want to watch them this weekend.”

“Yeonoh.”

“Yes?”

“I want to get to know the things you like, too.”

The things I like. How many times have I willingly tried to find them? In the mirror where I would habitually check my appearance, Yeonoh always looked for Heonyoung first.

“The person I like.”

“I hope it’s me.”

“…What?”

Dojin’s face came so close there was barely enough room for a finger to fit between them. Yeonoh’s confused pupils swayed like a candle flame in a faint breeze.

“Is that a no?”

Dojin reached out and, with a slow, gentle touch, brushed the tip of Yeonoh’s chin before rubbing his lips.

Only then could I read the entire context. The seemingly nervous expression he had worn since dinner, the romantic music and atmosphere, his low breath and voice. Dojin was proposing that they move beyond a simple sunbae-hoobae relationship.

“Sun-bae.”

Considerably flustered, Yeonoh stared at Dojin with wide eyes. Since when…

‘You don’t just get gifted clothes worth over a million won. Not usually.’

The reason Seo Heonyoung’s voice suddenly came to mind was because I had just realized that, put differently, it meant you don’t just gift clothes worth over a million won.

“Uh, I-I’m a beta.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re an alpha, sunbae.”

“Yes.”

Even when I tried to speak slowly, the words came out jumbled. But Dojin listened quietly to Yeonoh’s words.

“Also, we’re both men.”

“Yes.”

With each of Yeonoh’s statements, he narrowed the distance slightly, to the point where their lips would truly touch if he moved any closer.

“Is that the reason?”

Thump, thump. The sound of my heart beating was so loud it echoed in my ears. I could guarantee that it was a different kind of feeling from the romantic atmosphere that was currently settling in. It was bewilderment and an uncomfortable pressure weighing on my chest.

Yes, the reason my heart felt heavy was due to discomfort. Yeonoh had regarded Dojin’s affection for him as part of their unreserved relationship. All the while, even when he was with Dojin, he had been thinking of Seo Heonyoung, the one his heart pointed to. It was as if he had committed a forbidden act.

Yeonoh squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head.

“No, sunbae. I’m sorry.”

My heart pounded as if I had committed a major crime. I wasn’t unaware of Dojin’s kindness to me all this time, so was it right to refuse him like this? But if we became a couple out of gratitude, wouldn’t that be an even more dishonest act?

“I’ll contact you later.”

Before Dojin could even open his mouth, Yeonoh rushed out of the office. It was late, so there were few people in the building, and the elevator arrived right away. As soon as he stepped inside, Yeonoh grabbed the handrail and let out a deep breath.

“Haa.”

Even after taking deep breaths repeatedly, the pounding of his heart, which had started to race, showed no signs of slowing down. Was it because it was an enclosed space?

“Heup, heu…”

It was as if there was a hole in my lungs. No matter how much I breathed, it only got more tangled. My heart pounded once with a loud thud, and just when I thought it was returning to normal, it struck my chest even harder. My heart raced erratically, like a deflating balloon flying wildly around a room.

What’s wrong with my heart? It had gone beyond simple fluttering to the point of fear.

Just then, the cheerful arrival bell of the elevator reaching the ground floor rang, and Yeonoh came to his senses. All he could think about was getting outside and breathing in the cold air.

But of all people, why did the person waiting for the elevator have to be Seo Heonyoung? When the metal doors parted and they came face to face, Seo Heonyoung didn’t even look as surprised as Yeonoh. The timing was the worst.

I had a million questions—why he was here at this hour, why he wasn’t flustered to see me—but I was in a state I didn’t want to be seen in and was in desperate need of fresh air. So Yeonoh just bowed his head in greeting and quickly exited the building.

I had only walked a few steps from the building entrance when a strong force suddenly pulled my body.

“Ji Yeonoh!”

Before I could even register that the voice was Seo Heonyoung’s, my body was spun around to face his rather stern expression. Heonyoung, who had followed me out of the building, had grabbed Yeonoh’s hand.

Just seeing his face seemed to make my heart rate skyrocket. Yeonoh took a step back, but Seo Heonyoung closed the distance by taking two steps forward. In that instant, Seo Heonyoung furrowed his brow.

“Right now, I’m not, heu, feeling well.”

Heonyoung, pretending not to hear the roundabout request to be let go, abruptly brought the tip of his nose right up to Yeonoh’s neck, then moved past his jawline to his lower lip. It was the exact spot Dojin’s hand had brushed, and Seo Heonyoung’s sudden action made Yeonoh freeze on the spot.

At the same time, a chuckle escaped Heonyoung’s lips.

“You got into trouble after all.”

“I didn’t get into any trouble!”

Annoyed by his tone, which was clearly mocking, Yeonoh replied with force in his eyes, but Seo Heonyoung didn’t even pretend to listen.

“You come out reeking of alpha pheromones, and you say that’s not getting into trouble?”

“Wh-what does that…”

Yeonoh, who was unable to perceive the existence of pheromones, had no idea that Dojin’s pheromones were on him. Even when Yeonoh sniffed his own shoulder, he couldn’t smell anything remotely like pheromones. Which was to be expected, of course.

“With eyes that look like they’re about to cry and a face flushed bright red, covered in alpha pheromones, and you say you did nothing?”

Strangely, Seo Heonyoung kept getting angry.

Whatever trouble Dojin and I got into, wasn’t that a separate issue from Seo Heonyoung? But what was even more incomprehensible was that the more agitated Seo Heonyoung’s emotions became, the more rapidly my own condition deteriorated. My heart, which had been beating with intermittent arrhythmia, was now racing out of control, and perhaps because of that, I was even starting to feel nauseous.

It might be because I drank alcohol. I’d been shivering from the cold for the past few days, so it could also be that I’d caught a cold. If I stayed any longer, I felt like I was going to make a scene in the middle of the street, so Yeonoh shook his head.

“I didn’t do anything that would cause you any harm, Executive Director.”

“So you did do something with Kang Dojin.”

“You said we shouldn’t get involved personally. I’m sorry, but I think I’ll have to be the one to say that today.”

My only thought was to get away from here. I tried to say my goodbyes and leave quickly, but Seo Heonyoung grabbed Yeonoh’s shoulder again.

“You shouldn’t be doing that.”

The firm grip spun my body halfway around, and in that moment, my head spun, and my body staggered on its own.

“You started this whenever you felt like it, and now you’re going to pretend you’re not interested when it suits you?”

Wasn’t Seo Heonyoung the one who said we shouldn’t get involved personally? Perhaps my ability to think was deteriorating, because Yeonoh found it difficult to understand the context of the conversation. All his senses were blurring. Only Seo Heonyoung’s voice was amplified, ringing loudly in his ears. Yeonoh’s focus had become hazy, and he could only blink his unfocused eyes slowly.

“Don’t you know that wandering the streets in that state will only provoke strange alphas?”

The strangest alpha among them seems to be you, Executive Director.

Yeonoh, who was struggling to keep his eyes open, immediately dismissed the thought he hadn’t dared to utter.

“I don’t quite understand why you’re so angry…”

Was it because I disobeyed him and went around ‘getting into trouble’? Was it because I chose to ignore the one-sided love I had started on my own? Or was it because I was doing things that provoked other alphas?

But none of those options were reason enough for Seo Heonyoung to be this angry. Weren’t these the very emotions of Yeonoh’s that Seo Heonyoung had found disgusting until just a short while ago?

“I didn’t realize Ji Yeonoh’s learning ability was this poor.”

“…”

“You knew you were working under an alpha boss who is sensitive to pheromones, yet you brazenly come here covered in another alpha’s pheromones?”

The longer Seo Heonyoung’s interrogation continued, the more intense the suffocating feeling pressing on my chest became, and it was gradually becoming difficult to even maintain a standing posture. At first, I thought my heart was racing because I was surprised by Dojin’s sudden confession, and then out of guilt for rejecting him, but now I was sure. There was definitely something wrong with my body.

“…But I can’t even, feel, pheromones…”

He was so short of breath that he couldn’t even finish a single sentence. Yeonoh gasped for air and collapsed to the ground. For some unknown reason, his breath caught in his throat, and he couldn’t get a single word out. It felt as if he was submerged in water up to his head, and every time he opened his mouth, water rushed in, flooding his airways.

“Ji Yeonoh.”

“Heok, heu…”

“Ji Yeonoh, snap out of it and breathe.”

Seo Heonyoung, with a panicked expression, knelt down and gripped Yeonoh’s shoulders firmly, shouting, but contrary to Yeonoh’s will, the strength was gradually draining from his upper body.

“Co-ld…”

It was a pain that went beyond cold, a sensation of the wind cutting into my flesh. I struggled to hold onto my fading consciousness, but it was no use anymore. As I lost my balance and pitched forward, I leaned completely against Heonyoung’s firm chest and felt a comforting warmth. Drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, Yeonoh, not even knowing what he was doing, curled up and burrowed into Heonyoung’s embrace.

“…It’s warm here.”

His vision went black, blinking out like a closing shutter.