* * *
“…”
“You’re more sensuous than I thought.”
Yoo Joohwan rubbed his lips with his tongue in response to Siho’s sensitive reaction.
His anxious face made it seem like he was about to drag Siho somewhere and tear him apart.
“If your ears turn red from just touching your neck, how sensuous must other places be? It makes me want to suck on them.”
“Calm down… this is simply a physiological reaction or something…”
“Does that mean you’d have the same reaction if another guy came along?”
“T-that’s not what I meant.”
Siho broke out in a cold sweat watching him completely lose control.
He didn’t want to provoke this guy of all people, the one whose preference was hardcore.
Siho smiled awkwardly and rubbed his neck.
“If it were another person, wouldn’t it be Kang Taeyun or Moon Dowon…?”
He wanted to quickly go inside and catch his breath.
But Yoo Joohwan said nothing, only exuding a strange tension.
Siho scratched his cheek at the intense, ascending gaze.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Since there’s no reaction, you’re definitely not an Omega.”
It seemed he had released pheromones to reconfirm Siho’s Beta status.
Since Siho was an undeniably perfect Beta, he wore an awkward expression.
“Why would I lie about my sub-gender?”
“I think I was mistaken because the scent coming from you is nice.”
His calm voice was mixed with an unnatural hint of amusement.
The corners of his lips curling up eased the silent tension.
“What scent are you talking about?”
Siho instinctively turned his head at the sudden question.
Moon Dowon, who had arrived without a sound, was leaning against the staircase wall in a slouching posture.
“You’re late, Moon Dowon.”
Yoo Joohwan narrowed his friendly eyes, as if he knew he was coming.
Despite the clear welcoming expression, Moon Dowon maintained his usual expressionless face.
“What were you about to do? Kiss?”
“I wanted to, but I held back. Non-consensual things aren’t my style.”
Whenever he was with them, the topic of conversation was always sexual.
Considering that this book was high-rated smut, it made sense that the Targets’ minds were filled with obscenities.
But right now, Yoo Joohwan alone was draining his energy.
The moment he thought he needed to quickly pair them up with the main submissive, Kim Seunghyun, he wished he could call him here to meet the two men.
“Can you two talk for a bit?”
“What for?”
“I need to go inside and put the ice cream away.”
“Don’t lie.”
“…Huh?”
“Your face.”
Moon Dowon said dismissively that everything was written on his face.
It seemed his expression management wasn’t great due to the tension.
“I have a call scheduled with Seunghyun…”
“Why Kim Seunghyun?”
“Do I have to say?”
“Isn’t that obvious? If not, are you planning to cheat openly?”
Moon Dowon folded his arms and looked menacing.
His glassy eyes relentlessly pursued Siho, as if cross-examining him.
Siho showed an unfairly wronged expression at the suspicious gaze, but Moon Dowon tapped his own arm with his fingers, showing his discomfort.
“Call him.”
“Huh?”
“Tell him to come here.”
Siho’s lips were dry as he looked at Moon Dowon, who answered bluntly without softening his expression at all.
As Siho showed his nervousness, Yoo Joohwan lightly nudged Moon Dowon’s side and answered.
“He talks like that, but he’s jealous. Because you’ve been hanging out with Kim Seunghyun to avoid us.”
“…I only hung out with him because he’s a friend.”
“Yes, a friend. Even if it was true before, you have to be careful now. Especially when you have three lovers, not just one.”
Moon Dowon gave a nod of agreement to Yoo Joohwan, who was speaking seriously.
He added a small piece of advice: that it would be best not to meet anyone else other than themselves.
This was obsession at its finest.
“Remember. Your lovers next to you are very jealous.”
“…”
“I recommend not getting caught by Kang Taeyun, if possible.”
Yoo Joohwan calmly warned him, even mentioning the person who wasn’t present.
His serious eyes felt like a whirlpool, ready to suck him in.
“…I don’t want to.”
“What?”
“I said I don’t want to. Why should I? Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean I can’t meet other people.”
Siho wanted to satisfyingly say that they could just break up, but he swallowed the words, seeing no need to stir up trouble.
Moon Dowon sighed briefly.
“So. You’re going to meet Kim Seunghyun to the very end?”
His gaze, which sank down menacingly, sent a shiver as if his hair was being grabbed, but Siho nodded, pretending to be unfazed.
“Yes, then.”
Moon Dowon, who had been waiting for the answer, took out his phone from his pocket.
Siho wondered what he was doing, only to see him call Kim Seunghyun and hang up after only telling him to come over here.
Siho was quite flustered watching him hang up after only saying what he wanted to say.
“What are you doing?”
“You said you want to meet him. I don’t want you to, but you have to.”
“…”
“Then there’s only one answer.”
Moon Dowon looked ready to meet him directly and settle the matter.
Siho blinked rapidly with a confused expression at his aggressive manner.
‘What is it? Have they not properly met Kim Seunghyun yet?’
There was no way they could be reacting so sensitively otherwise.
“Fine. Call him.”
Although the atmosphere was cold, if he could connect the three of them now, the narrative might shift from himself to Kim Seunghyun.
Unable to miss this opportunity, Siho put on a positive expression, causing Moon Dowon to let out a heavy sigh.
“Ha. I’m getting angry.”
“Why? You called him, and I just said ‘okay.'”
“You think my warning is just a warning? You think calling Kim Seunghyun is just calling him?”
“You’re being stubborn. You’d act the same if I met someone other than Kim Seunghyun.”
“Yes. Since you won’t listen to a warning, I’ll confine you. If you run away, I’ll break your legs, and if you crawl, I might break your arms.”
Siho realized that this man was the one with the ‘Obsessive Target’ and ‘Cold-Blooded Target’ keywords as he easily spoke such terrifying words.
He had been a fun character to read about, but experiencing him in person felt dizzying.
“No, this won’t work. Let’s stop this.”
“What?”
“This kind of relationship, it’s too scary, I don’t like it…”
The original plot came to mind, and he was terrified.
They were hiding their claws now because they were interested in him, but just imagining how they might change once that interest was gone filled him with fear.
He barely managed to part his lips, answering through the chokehold of panic.
“Dating isn’t something you do alone. It won’t work just by forcefully cornering someone.”
“…”
“I want my private life to be respected.”
Siho firmly looked at Moon Dowon, suppressing his true feelings, which were that he was willing to break up if that wasn’t possible.
Moon Dowon’s slightly wavering eyes looked a little surprised.
Yoo Joohwan, who had been watching quietly beside them, interjected to change the atmosphere.
“Moon Dowon did say something mean. How could he talk about breaking his lover’s arms and legs?”
“Are you picking a fight?”
“No. I’m correcting you. Because Seo Siho seems hurt by your words.”
Yoo Joohwan shrugged and turned back.
Even though his cold eyes were concealed by his soft eye-curve, they looked sharp.
“However, you also need to make a correction. I’m not saying we won’t respect your private life. But since you agreed to date us, you need to understand and accept certain things to some extent. You knew we were Alphas, different from normal Betas, when you started this.”
“…”
“You know what kind of beast an Alpha is.”
Yoo Joohwan pointed out how much stronger they would be, being superior Alphas among their kind.
His gaze, laid out like a trap, made Siho feel like he had to sneak away tonight.
Then, Kim Seunghyun suddenly came to mind.
‘Why don’t they care about Kim Seunghyun at all…?’
He had planned to pretend to date them, attach Kim Seunghyun to the trio, and then run away.
Since Alphas wouldn’t be serious about a Beta, he thought they might discard him once their curiosity was satisfied.
But the two men showed no interest, let alone curiosity, about Kim Seunghyun.
It was as if the protagonists had been swapped.
“…You know what. Do you guys have no feelings for Seunghyun? Like, your heart beating or—”
“It beats. Enough to want to kill him right now.”
Moon Dowon lightly sneered, a murderous intent appearing in his eyes.
It was the hatred that Seo Siho, the villain in the original, should have faced. Siho’s mind went blank.
“If I had my way, I’d get rid of him from my sight. I’m restraining myself. Because I don’t want you to hate me.”
“…”
“I told you, didn’t I? That I’d teach you what sex is.”
“…”
“If I wasn’t interested in you, I wouldn’t feel this desire. Even now, when I see you, I want to touch you, want to fuck you. I want to make you cry and beg.”
He calmly and composedly stated that all these feelings were due to his interest in Siho.
Siho bit his lip, listening to his quiet, yet unwavering voice.
“Even if it’s not as extreme as Moon Dowon, I don’t take you lightly either. Just play with you? If those were my feelings, I wouldn’t have even started this. We have a social standing, so why would we play games with the risk of a Beta?”
* * *
