ETP Ch 3

The air in the car returning from the memorial park was heavier than on the way there. Hyungseop concentrated on driving in silence, and Seongyeon needed time to gather his thoughts.

Now, he had to live as ‘Kim Bokseung,’ not Lee Seongyeon. He didn’t know if it would be for an hour or a lifetime. If the real Bokseung, who should be in the afterlife, returned feeling wronged, he’d have no choice but to give back the body. It was a life with a ticking clock.

Even with Seongyeon’s calm personality, witnessing his own death and then being put in a situation where he didn’t know when he’d die again was incredibly stressful. What made it even sadder was that he didn’t have the luxury to dwell on that stress.

There were a mountain of things he had to do as Kim Bokseung. Just prioritizing them made his head spin.

Regardless of Seongyeon’s inner turmoil, time flowed steadily, and Hyungseop’s car arrived at Bokseung’s neighborhood.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t drive you all the way home?” Hyungseop asked with a worried look. He seemed uneasy about leaving the young man alone on the street.

Seongyeon, a 30-something-year-old man in the body of a 20-year-old, nodded to indicate he could go alone.

Seeing Bokseung only nod silently, Hyungseop reluctantly turned on the hazard lights. As the car stopped and the young man was about to get out, Hyungseop offered a string of worried advice.

“If you feel unwell, call me immediately. If I’m being a bother, talk to Teacher Joohyun. Okay?”

“Uh, no, yes. Thank you.” 

It felt awkward to use formal language with the guy he’d been calling “dude” and “man” for over 20 years. Seongyeon added a strange interjection and quickly got out of the car.

“Be careful! Call me when you get there! Okay?!” 

Hyungseop’s worried words followed him. Seongyeon bowed his head and quickened his pace.

The reason he hadn’t asked Hyungseop to drive him all the way home was because even Seongyeon didn’t know Bokseung’s exact address. He had often let Bokseung sleep over at his place, but he had never been to the young man’s home.

Surprisingly, unlike Seongyeon’s bewildered mind, Bokseung’s feet started navigating the narrow alleyways on their own.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

And so, here he was. Seongyeon stood at Bokseung’s front door.

This is why the subconscious is so scary.

Seongyeon had never been to Bokseung’s house and didn’t have the address memorized, yet he arrived without getting lost, as if a destination had been pre-set. Even more chilling was that his fingers correctly entered the door code. It wasn’t that he knew the code and typed it in; it was more like his fingers remembered the positions.

Anyway, the door opened with a cheerful chime, and he stepped inside. He couldn’t help but curse at the overwhelming sight that greeted him: sticky notes everywhere.

After staring blankly at the incredible scene for a while, Seongyeon cautiously took a step inside.

He hesitated for a moment, feeling uneasy about entering someone else’s home. However, his curiosity was equally piqued.

The first thing Seongyeon did was examine the sticky notes plastered on everything.

The refrigerator held notes with the names and expiration dates of the contents. The TV had a list of favorite programs and channel numbers. The washing machine displayed the types of laundry to do each day and detergent amounts. The laptop had this semester’s class schedule and part-time job schedule meticulously written down.

“Wow.” 

A genuine exclamation of admiration escaped Bokseung’s lips.

He knew Bokseung used to leave notes around the house for his grandmother, who had dementia. However, he had no idea that Bokseung continued this practice even after his grandmother passed away.

The notes seemed obsessive, as if he was trying not to miss even the smallest, most trivial detail.

He seemed perfectly fine, like he had forgotten everything, but that wasn’t the case. Had he been suppressing everything, pretending to be okay, until he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore?

The sorrowful look in the young man’s eyes remained etched in Seongyeon’s memory.

Suppressing his rising emotions, Seongyeon continued to examine the house.

Two small rooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The space where Bokseung had lived until recently.

Looking at the round, bubbly handwriting that filled the space, so like Bokseung himself, Seongyeon shed tears again. This time, they were tears for the young man who must have been so lonely and afraid.

While he berated himself for being sentimental, he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Just as he was sniffling, a sweet scent tickled his nose.

“Sniff! He even used cute air fresheners, just like him.”

Focusing on the scent, Seongyeon stopped crying and looked around. The cute, sweet smell perfectly suited Bokseung.

Following the scent to the bathroom, Seongyeon felt something strange.

The sweet scent wasn’t getting stronger as he moved in a particular direction. It intensified the more Bokseung’s body moved.

“What is this?”

Seongyeon experimentally swung his arms wide. Then, he brought his forearm and inner wrist to his nose.

“Gasp…!”

A strong scent, as if he had just sprayed perfume, stimulated his nose and skin. It wasn’t overpowering, but it was concentrated enough to make his nose tingle.

He was sure he hadn’t sprayed anything. The toiletries he used this morning were so common and faint that he couldn’t even remember their scent, making the situation even more puzzling.

Why was this sweet scent emanating from the young man’s body?

As Seongyeon puzzled over this, Bokseung’s head tilted slightly.

A round, white face, eyes a mix of light brown and green, a generally hazy expression, tilted to the right and reflected in the bathroom mirror.

Looking at that innocent, clear face, Seongyeon suddenly realized.

Bokseung was an Omega. The scent he was smelling was Bokseung’s pheromones.

It seemed that having stopped taking his suppressants since morning, Bokseung’s pheromones were starting to diffuse.

“So this is the legendary pheromone. It’s certainly something.” Seongyeon chuckled in disbelief.

Not only had he become 13 years younger overnight, but his very nature had changed. Lee Seongyeon’s life was certainly eventful.

Muttering self-deprecatingly, Seongyeon left the bathroom. Though initially flustered by the unfamiliar pheromones, he figured Bokseung would have detailed instructions on how to take suppressants.

As expected, in the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed, he found a pillbox containing suppressants and a sticky note with instructions. Furthermore, the calendar on the nightstand had the date, time, and even the doctor’s name for his next appointment at the traits clinic.

Bokseung’s note-taking habit was a godsend for Seongyeon. It had saved him from what would have been a complete freefall.

It was ironic that the person who put him in this situation was Bokseung, but adapting to the present reality was his priority.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

Despite his resolve to thoroughly examine the house, Seongyeon fell asleep as soon as he finished showering.

“Damn it.” 

Seongyeon forced his still-heavy body upright. The clock read 7:10 AM. At least he wouldn’t be late for class, which was a small comfort.

After a squeaky-clean shower, Seongyeon made sure to take a suppressant. Then, he headed to the closet in the smaller room.

A sky-blue sweatshirt, a color he wouldn’t have dared to wear as Seongyeon, caught his eye. As if possessed, he grabbed the sweatshirt and quickly tried it on. It was fascinating how well the bright color suited his fair skin.

“Oh, so handsome.”

Seongyeon showered Bokseung’s reflection with compliments, like an uncle admiring his newly-minted college student nephew. His expression was so full of pride that anyone else would have accused him of narcissism.

After spending a few moments admiring Bokseung’s face in the mirror, Seongyeon suddenly remembered he needed to get ready to leave and started hurrying.

Born 13 years before Bokseung, Seongyeon was a bit old-fashioned, believing perfect attendance was paramount. Moreover, his parents had instilled in him the importance of diligence, so in his mind, academics were the current priority.

Driven by the mission to maintain Bokseung’s perfect attendance, Seongyeon gathered his textbooks according to the schedule and headed to the university.

His phone, charged overnight, buzzed incessantly with messages the moment he turned it on. Quickly silencing it, Seongyeon opened the map app.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

“I’m exhausted…” 

Bokseung, having barely made it to the lecture hall before 9:04, gasped, his breath ragged. Navigating the sprawling campus building in his still-recovering state had taken its toll.

He’d heard that Bokseung’s university had a large campus, but he hadn’t realized the buildings themselves would be a maze-like structure, adding to the vastness of the land.

Late and relegated to a seat in the far corner, Seongyeon surveyed the lecture hall. Students were gathered in small groups within the moderately sized room.

Some of them could be Bokseung’s friends. However, not yet fully acquainted with Bokseung’s social circle, Seongyeon subtly lowered his head, trying to make himself inconspicuous, avoiding eye contact.

As he waited for the professor, he heard someone sit down in the empty seat next to him.

Keeping his head down, Seongyeon glanced sideways with just his eyes.

Even seated, the man was noticeably tall. A pleasant scent subtly emanated from him.

Seongyeon cautiously sniffed, inhaling the aroma.

Though normally indifferent to fragrances, he found himself strangely drawn to this one.

Peppermint, vanilla, rose?

An unlikely combination, yet it seemed to blend harmoniously.

Just as his curiosity about the unfamiliar scent piqued, the front door of the lecture hall opened, and a young male professor entered.

The professor swiftly scanned the room before speaking briefly.

“It’s 9:01. Please take attendance.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the students busied themselves with their phones. Amidst the activity, Seongyeon waited with a pounding heart for the professor to call Bokseung’s name.