Strategic Mating Partner chapter 5

“Ah…”

When Sejin’s large, warm hand finally wrapped around him, rubbing and shaking, Taehyun couldn’t help but squirm, his lower body already on edge with arousal.

Pheromones are really infuriating.

Even though Sejin was someone he found utterly uncomfortable, his body heated up so quickly.

It was useless to resist the pheromones out of spite.

The more the sweet scent wafted around him, the more his face instinctively moved closer to Sejin’s chest.

It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d smelled an alpha’s scent, but the warmth teasing his nose kept drawing him in.

Maybe our pheromones are a good match?

The intense attraction, different from anything he’d felt before, kept messing with his rationality.

Was Sejin feeling the same way?

Taehyun wondered.

When he’d asked other alphas who knew he was an omega, they always said that his scent didn’t match his tough image. Instead of being sweet or fragrant, it was more like a cozy, sun-dried blanket.

No matter how many times he heard it, it never seemed to fit the sexy, alluring image pheromones usually evoke.

When Taehyun responded with a snarky laugh, the replies were always the same.

“That’s why I keep thinking of you sometimes. When I lie on a freshly laundered blanket, it reminds me of your scent.”

Back then, he’d shrugged it off as just a comment about being comfortable rather than sexy, but now he was curious if Sejin had a similar impression.

“But it’s not like it’s a gross smell…”

His core, standing tall and eager in Sejin’s hand, burned hot as he teetered on the edge of climax, only to be pulled back at the last moment.

Unable to take it anymore, Taehyun pressed his forehead against Sejin’s and whispered,

“Touch me down there, too. I want you to put it in…”

If his self from ten minutes ago saw him now, he’d be horrified, thinking there was nothing he wouldn’t say to get off.

But it didn’t matter.

The moment he inhaled Sejin’s scent again, letting it seep deep into his lungs, he lost all sense of reason.

He grabbed Sejin’s startled hand and guided it down to his already slick entrance, where the moisture had been pooling for a while now.

Sejin hesitated as his hand came in contact with the wetness, and Taehyun buried his face into Sejin’s shoulder, pleading once more.

“Please, I just… want you inside me.”

Pheromones are terrifying.

That thought crossed Taehyun’s mind again as he realized he had no intention of stopping.

The fact that he could still think that even after everything made pheromones scarier than alcohol.

Ignoring his silly train of thought, Taehyun finally felt Sejin’s firm fingers brushing against his wrinkled entrance.

“Hmm?”

A warm, thick liquid trickled down Taehyun’s back.

He could feel the body he was embracing stiffen up like a mannequin.

The strange sensation snapped him out of his haze, and he reached back to touch the area where he felt the wetness.

The metallic scent quickly filled the air.

Drip, drip.

The liquid continued to flow until Taehyun finally realized it was blood.

He stared at his blood-stained hands in shock before pushing Sejin away to get a better look at his face.

Sejin’s usually delicate, pretty face was now flushed red, like it was about to explode, as he nervously fidgeted with his hands, unable to do anything.

“You… what the hell…”

Taehyun, unable to believe what he was seeing, was at a loss for words.

Sejin abruptly jumped off the bed, still sporting an erection, and bolted for the bathroom.

“W-wait a minute!”

He slammed the door shut and locked it behind him.
‘
‘What about me?

Left alone with his blood-streaked back and bare hands, Taehyun was utterly dumbfounded.

‘I need to clean this up too, damn it.’

All that remained was the metallic scent of blood mixed with the fresh, grassy smell.

His arousal had mostly subsided, but the sticky fluid from earlier still dripped down his inner thighs.

What the hell was that?

He was both bewildered and amused.

Is this really okay?

A wave of anxiety and emptiness washed over him.

A little later, Sejin emerged from the bathroom, having finally stopped the nosebleed.

Taehyun was already fully dressed in the clothes he had thrown off earlier.

Sejin hesitated and took a step back upon seeing Taehyun in his perfectly neat attire, only for Taehyun to chuckle dryly.

“Because someone decided to hog the bathroom, I couldn’t even clean myself properly.”

Leaving bodily fluids behind due to excitement was already unpleasant enough, but watching someone else’s blood dry on your back and hands was even more distasteful.

Taehyun had no choice but to rummage through the bag he slung over his shoulder with the hand that wasn’t stained with blood.

He pulled out a promotional wet tissue he had received earlier and squeezed out as much moisture as possible to wipe himself clean.

Although the bloodstains disappeared, the unsettling feeling and faint fishy smell remained.

Taehyun, leaving the frozen Sejin behind, headed toward the bathroom Sejin had just exited, as if switching places with him.

“Stay there and wait. I’ll be out after I clean up too.”

It didn’t seem possible to do anything more today in this state.

Even though he hadn’t expected to reunite like this, he couldn’t deny a sense of relief.

He had so many questions—how had Sejin been, and how on earth did he end up finding a mating partner?

‘Well, I’ve been thinking about it too… It’s been on my mind.’

Four years ago.

While everyone was celebrating the renewal of South Korea’s highest overall ranking, Taehyun made a somewhat irresponsible choice to survive.

After all, he had failed to win a medal, so he didn’t deserve to join the festivities.

Given his status as a promising athlete, reporters would surely have swarmed him, rubbing salt in the wound by asking how he felt about the results.

So, he decided to avoid all contact and quietly return to Korea.

Taehyun took a secretly booked flight home at his own expense and called his agency as soon as he arrived at the airport, informing them that he would be unable to participate in training or broadcast activities for a while due to personal reasons and would focus solely on recovering from his injury.

After abruptly ending the call, Taehyun turned off his phone and went into hiding for nearly six months, not appearing anywhere.

During that time, he communicated with his agency only through email, unable to handle even comforting calls from friends, leading him to cancel his phone plan altogether.

Except for the twice-weekly hospital visits for rehabilitation, when he wrapped himself up tightly, Taehyun spent his time helping his mother with household chores, being the only family he had.

After six months of isolation, he finally mustered the courage to rejoin the world.

When Taehyun reappeared at the training center with a new phone number after disappearing without a word, he returned to his daily routine with his usual smooth social skills as if nothing had happened.

Although everyone was a bit surprised, they understood the shock Taehyun had gone through, and since he was as cheerful and nonchalant as ever, they assumed he had just gone through a tough time during rehabilitation.

About half a year after his return, Taehyun broke his year-long hiatus and resumed his athletic career, and the incident was tacitly considered a time that never happened by those who cared for him.

However, amidst everything seemingly returning to normal, one thing had changed—Sejin.

Unlike Taehyun and the other athletes who trained in Korea, Sejin trained in another country.

After the Olympics, he stayed in Korea briefly before returning to France, where his parents lived.

He insisted on training in France unless there was a group match, so Taehyun hadn’t crossed paths with him since.

There were international matches besides the Olympics over the past four years.

Had Sejin had the will and timing, they might have met during the Asian Games training, but Taehyun hadn’t seen Sejin since the Olympics four years ago.

It was embarrassing and awkward to reach out after his shameful disappearance following his poor performance, and before he knew it, four years had passed.

‘I really didn’t expect to meet like this…’

What else could he do but sigh?

He had no choice but to accept this as paying for his past actions.

Though he never imagined it would come back to him in this way.

‘Sigh…’

With another deep sigh, Taehyun finished a quick shower, dried himself thoroughly, changed back into his outdoor clothes, and stepped out of the damp air into the bedroom.

“……”

Sejin, still sitting on the sofa with a brooding, expressionless face, was impossible to read.