Chapter 11

At the tender warmth in Yu-gyeom’s voice, Rian’s frantically racing thoughts settled into calm. An overwhelming desire to go home suddenly seized him. He felt as though nothing in the world mattered if he could not be with Yu-gyeom right now. Eating with his friends, the drama club, everything—he simply wanted to abandon it all.

Rian was someone whose entire world could be shaken by Yu-gyeom’s slightest action—not just occasionally, but on far too many days. To Rian, Yu-gyeom was an absolute necessity. Ever since he was very young, Yu-gyeom had been the only protective fence in his life.

“Come pick me up…” Rian pleaded in a small, fragile voice.

—“I’m working right now, you know… What’s wrong, hm? Tell me what happened.”

“You didn’t answer my calls, so I felt miserable,” Rian confessed softly.

—“Ah, so I made you worry.”

“No, it wasn’t just that…” Rian faltered.

I thought you were angry with me. I thought you were so angry that you were going to abandon me. Because I made you mad, because it’s all my fault… I felt like I was going out of my mind.

Whenever my tender hyung got angry, he would often… I mean, he would…

—“Rian?”

“…” Rian stood frozen, unable to form an answer.

For a moment, Rian’s vision seemed to blur. Whenever Rian failed to obey, hyung had often walked out of the house and left him behind, even when he was small. Leaving him completely alone at home without parents at the tender age of nine, not returning until dawn… Ever since then, a sudden, persistent dread had taken root in Rian’s heart—the terror that Yu-gyeom, too, might abandon him one day.

—“Baby.”

Yu-gyeom’s endlessly tender voice, soft and warm as spring sunlight, flowed through the phone to caress Rian’s ear. Only then did Rian snap back to his senses.

“Yeah…” Rian breathed softly.

—“Baby, are you all right?”

Yu-gyeom was soothing him. Rian felt a fresh wave of relief wash over him knowing Yu-gyeom wasn’t angry. After all, if Yu-gyeom wasn’t angry, he wouldn’t walk out and leave Rian behind.

Whenever Yu-gyeom kneaded his heart like soft dough, breaking down his defenses, Rian would melt into complete putty.

Curled up and staring at the ground, Rian lifted his head toward the sky. The cherry tree casting a vast shadow over him was still lush with blossoms. Spring sunlight poured down in dazzling beams between the pink petals.

A single word from Yu-gyeom could make Rian’s mood oscillate so wildly—shifting from spring to winter, and back again.

“Yeah. Hyung… did you have lunch yet?” Rian asked.

—“Not yet. What about my baby?”

Even when Rian was very little, Yu-gyeom had always tucked him into bed and called him his baby. Like a mother, like a father.

“I’m about to. I’m right in front of the cafeteria,” Rian answered.

—“All right, enjoy your meal. You remember we’re having dinner together tonight, right?”

“Yeah. Come pick me up when classes are over,” Rian said.

—“I will. Wash your hands before you eat. Chew properly and eat a balanced meal, without being picky.”

“Yeah, I will,” Rian promised.

—“All right, I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait, hyung!” Rian called out hastily.

—“Hm?”

“Tonight… sleep with me,” Rian whispered.

—“…All right, I will. See you in a little while.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rian replied eagerly.

As if Yu-gyeom were standing right in front of him, Rian nodded with sparkling eyes. Only after the call disconnected did he finally push himself up from his curled posture.

Rian’s expression had brightened considerably. Just as a sudden surge of hunger struck him and he turned around to grab lunch, he froze. Having been on the phone in a secluded corner, he hadn’t noticed anyone approaching—yet there stood Kim Taeju, quietly watching him, having arrived at some unknown point.

Because there hadn’t been so much as a footstep, Rian stumbled back a step in surprise.

Startled by the sudden collision, Rian cried out, “Wh-what the?!”

Leaning against the brick wall of the building, Kim Taeju held an e-cigarette in his hand. Smoking on campus? When Rian furrowed his brow in disapproval, Taeju addressed him casually.

“This is a smoking area,” Taeju stated.

“Huh?” Rian blinked, taken aback.

“Your expression,” Taeju clarified. “You were looking at me like I’m some bastard smoking wherever he pleases, so I’m just explaining.”

“…I wasn’t. I didn’t look at you like that,” Rian countered.

“Hmm. If you say so,” Taeju replied with a dismissive shrug.

Kim Taeju seemed convinced that Rian disliked him, given how Taeju kept picking petty fights ever since Rian had announced he couldn’t participate in the club. Taeju cast a casual glance in his direction. “Who was that on the phone? Your hyung?”

“Yeah,” Rian answered shortly.

“Sounded just like a lover, but it was your hyung,” Taeju remarked.

The word lover made Rian hesitate, but not wanting to stir up unnecessary trouble, he simply brushed past Taeju. Just then, however, Kim Taeju exhaled a puff of smoke directly in front of Rian’s face. A faint mint scent drifted into his nostrils. Even before Rian could fully register the scent of the e-cigarette, Taeju murmured a low observation.

“You’re practically reeking of Omega,” Taeju said.

Rian stared back in utter bewilderment. “…What?”

Taeju slipped the e-cigarette back into his pocket. A peculiar glint lingered in his gaze as he looked down at Rian. Tilting his head once or twice, he wore an expression of curious disbelief before letting out a mocking scoff.

Rian watched every single one of Kim Taeju’s movements without missing a beat.

“Wait, didn’t you know?” Taeju asked. “Why aren’t you controlling your pheromones instead of leaking them everywhere?”

“…Me?” Rian asked, flustered.

Rian pointed a finger at himself.

“Who else is an Omega here besides you?” Taeju retorted.

There was no one else around—only Kim Taeju and Rian. At that moment, Rian realized that he had been left completely exposed and defenseless this entire time. Lost in thoughts of Yu-gyeom, he had apparently failed to rein in his pheromones and had been leaking them all along.

Flushing red, Rian hastily reined in his pheromones. Wait… how can Kim Taeju smell pheromones when he’s a Beta? Rian stared at him in bewilderment. As if reading Rian’s thoughts, Taeju offered a casual explanation.

“Ah, I’m a bit of an oddball,” Taeju explained. “My manifestation into an Alpha has been ongoing for a year now. That’s why sometimes my Alpha scent is strong, and other times I seem just like a Beta.”

“Ah… so that’s why you could smell my pheromones…” Rian murmured.

“Strange, though,” Taeju remarked. “Normally, I can’t smell other Omegas’ pheromones very well.”

“Huh?” Rian asked.

Tilting his head, Kim Taeju casually brushed past Kwon Rian. An enigmatic smile still lingered on his face.

“It must be insanely thick,” Taeju noted. “Honestly, this is a bit extreme.” Sniff, sniff. Like a hound, Kim Taeju pressed his nose right against the nape of Rian’s neck and inhaled his scent.

As he did, Taeju casually palmed the swelling bulge at the front of his trousers before disappearing into the cafeteria. Rian, his face burning with a mixture of fluster and utter disbelief, could only stare blankly after him.

A bizarre sensation of displeasure brushed across Rian’s chest. Aside from Yu-gyeom, had anyone ever gossiped or made such remarks about his pheromones?