* * *
“Wookyung, did you know?”
Saheon asked after seeing Wookyung’s calm face.
His expressions were never particularly animated, but this time it felt less like composure and more like he had already figured things out.
As expected, Wookyung nodded.
After a brief pause, as if collecting his thoughts, he met Saheon’s gaze again.
“Since when?”
“Earlier.”
“Earlier?”
Wookyung tried to organize how to explain it.
In his dreams, all the faces had been blurry.
They were people who mocked and criticized him, so maybe he’d unconsciously avoided remembering them in detail.
The only one he clearly recalled was Shin Jaehyun, who had first spoken to him while handing over a textbook.
That moment had stood out even then.
“That wasn’t how we first met.”
As far as Wookyung remembered, in the novel, the protagonist met Jaehyun for the first time when he picked up the gym clothes Wookyung had dropped while riding his bike.
That fresh, slightly aloof but pure face smiling as he said thanks—he’d looked like a freshly bloomed rose.
Wookyung had felt something right away.
So the idea that admiration had turned into something else never quite sat right.
Or so he’d thought.
“I had a dream. It was mixed with memories of people whispering about me when I was a kid, and how I drifted through middle school.”
He saw Saheon’s brows furrow deeply.
His lips even twitched like he was about to say something.
Probably because he wanted to comfort him or take his side.
Instead, Wookyung reached out, took Saheon’s hand, and gently pulled him closer, silently asking him to just listen.
The physically larger alpha didn’t resist and moved in without hesitation.
The hand that softly stroked his hair felt good, so Wookyung narrowed his eyes and continued.
“I saw the time I was with Jaehyun hyung. But it wasn’t like how I remembered it. I figured it was just my subconscious distorting things, but then I saw myself confessing to him.”
“You confessed?”
Saheon finally interrupted, just when it seemed like he was quietly listening.
His eyes looked a bit sulky, and Wookyung couldn’t help but laugh.
“Are you jealous?”
“I won’t say I’m not.”
His tone said just as much.
“That was ages ago, though.”
“Still. You were always putting up walls with me.”
“You knew?”
“How could I not? You were clearly trying to avoid me.”
True, even if he hadn’t done it outright, Wookyung had definitely tried to keep his distance.
There was no way this sharp alpha wouldn’t have noticed.
“Then why did you keep coming after me?”
Not once or twice—every time. At some point, wouldn’t you get fed up and lose interest?
“Why else? Because I wanted to get closer to you.”
“Because I talked to you that one time?”
“That too, of course. But mostly, I just liked you. You, Wookyung.”
“What part of me?”
He had always wondered.
Saheon never hid his interest from the beginning, but Wookyung could never figure out the reason.
“I don’t know. Just… all of you?”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Seriously. So much that I can’t even point to one thing.”
Really, Saheon had a hopelessly positive way about him.
“That’s all?”
“That’s everything. That kind of thing is important. Just having you near me is enough. You’re attractive just as you are.”
And the way he could say that with such certainty—that was one of Saheon’s strengths.
‘He’s right.’
Maybe the reason Wookyung had found the courage to face reality again was because this person stood solidly by his side.
As he looked down at their joined hands, Wookyung returned to the earlier topic.
“Following Jaehyun hyung around… maybe it was more admiration than affection. Looking back, I was just mimicking everything he did. I mistook it for something else.”
“So that’s why you confessed.”
“Yeah.”
“And Min Kyowon saw that and attacked you, didn’t he?”
‘Attacked?’
That was putting it harshly.
It wasn’t anything that violent.
In the dream, only Jaehyun had been clear, while the one who barged in was just a vague presence.
“I didn’t see clearly. Just that it was Kyowon hyung.”
“Hyung, my ass.”
The sudden scorn made Wookyung chuckle.
“Okay, okay. Mr. Min grabbed my shoulder roughly, and after that, I felt something heavy and suffocating press down on me.”
At the time, he hadn’t known what it was. He’d just instinctively sensed danger and ran like hell.
“But thinking back on it now…”
“Min Kyowon was hitting you with pheromones. To threaten you.”
“Yeah. I realized when Dr. Lim mentioned ‘pheromone shower’ earlier. That’s what it must’ve been.”
“I should’ve beaten the bastard to a pulp.”
Wookyung shook his head as Saheon ground his teeth.
“Well, maybe that’s what triggered it. My parents and brother are all marked types. Maybe I manifested back then because of the exposure.”
“You were going to manifest eventually, but the problem is that it was forced. And that he never even apologized properly afterward.”
Of course not.
Wookyung hadn’t told anyone.
Even the person involved had buried it under denial.
“He didn’t know, so that’s why.”
“Even if he did, he probably would’ve pretended not to.”
At Saheon’s firm tone, Wookyung shrugged.
Yeah, that sounded like something Mr. Min would do.
“So now can I take care of it?”
“Take care of what?”
Why was he looking so conspiratorial again, eyes gleaming?
He looked annoyingly handsome like that, too.
Wookyung narrowed his eyes, silently urging him to spill it.
But this time, Saheon just smiled and stayed quiet.
“You’re not gonna tell me?”
“I’ll just say it’ll benefit both you and Manager Shin.”
“Manager Shin?”
Why bring him up?
As Wookyung mulled it over, it hit him what Saheon was planning.
“You’re not trying to get Mr. Min kicked out of the company, are you?”
“Not that far. Just thinking of snapping him out of it a little.”
“How? What are you going to do?”
He gave Saheon a look demanding more, but the man didn’t elaborate.
Of course, Saheon could’ve told him.
But he didn’t want the whole Min Kyowon issue to weigh heavily on Wookyung.
More than anything, he didn’t want to cheapen the real reason he came back—to be with Wookyung.
“More importantly, how are you feeling?”
Nice subject change. Wookyung gave him a squint.
“Trying to dodge, are we?”
Saheon’s lips curved into a smile as Wookyung playfully tapped his own chin.
“You’re going to find out eventually anyway, so just forget about that for now. What matters more is your condition.”
He didn’t even try to hide his ulterior motive.
What a shameless guy.
But this time, Wookyung let it go.
“Thanks to you, I’m feeling better.”
“Anywhere still hurting?”
He couldn’t say no.
Actually, he hadn’t even told the doctor.
It was too embarrassing to mention the pain radiating from that… particular region.
“I think it’ll go away with time.”
He avoided Saheon’s gaze and mumbled an answer.
But Saheon seemed to have caught on.
After a soft sigh, a warm touch brushed his forehead.
“Then let’s get some more rest for now.”
“What about work?”
They weren’t exactly here on vacation, after all.
“I already did.”
“Liar.”
“Do you even know what time it is right now?”
Only then did Wookyung recall the time displayed on his smartphone.
He’d woken up well past noon.
After that, he’d showered, eaten, and seen the doctor—so it was likely close to evening by now.
It was a bit early, sure, but not strange for Saheon to have returned by then.
Even so, Wookyung couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
“You really don’t know how to hold back.”
“You’re one to talk.”
Saheon’s short reply actually made Wookyung feel awkward.
Technically, he was the one who started all this mess.
“Don’t be so quick to say that. This all happened because of my heat cycle.”
“And you took care of my rut too, didn’t you?”
“That was…”
“Besides, for you it was just one night. But for me…”
Saheon’s words trailed off as Wookyung quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.
His face flushed again, red like a ripe apple.
Would he sulk again if Saheon told him even his glare was cute?
“Don’t laugh.”
Wookyung snapped, catching the curve of a smile forming behind his palm.
But the grin had already bloomed and wasn’t going anywhere.
In the end, Wookyung dropped his hand—and captured Saheon’s lips with his own.
What began as a soft brush quickly deepened into a full, consuming kiss.
* * *
