Chapter 37

Swept along by Taeju and their circle of classmates, Rian ended up joining them at the gathering for drinks. Having moved quickly from campus, he missed his chance to contact Yu-gyeom in the interim. Even as the worry nagged at him the entire time, he figured everything would be fine as long as he reached home before his brother did. As the night unfolded, he found himself swept up in the lively atmosphere as well. Though a seed of anxiety lingered in a corner of his mind, being dragged along by his peers made it easy to push the feeling aside.

Ultimately, having rarely tasted alcohol before, Rian could not refuse the drinks his friends poured for him. After taking sips here and there, he ended up far exceeding his low tolerance. Consequently, by the time they headed home, his mind had grown pleasantly foggy.

To walk Rian home, Taeju got off the bus with him, and the two walked side by side toward Rian’s house. Because the alcohol prevented Rian from properly reigning in his scent, Taeju was thoroughly reveling in the intoxicating bliss, as though standing under a shower of pure Omega pheromones.

Both of them had grown pleasantly sluggish, soaked in alcohol. Because of that, they burst into giggles over the slightest joke, snickering even at a dry leaf tumbling across the pavement.

Unaware that his phone was vibrating incessantly inside his bag, Rian kept on laughing.

“You really laugh a lot, don’t you?” Taeju remarked.

Kim Taeju rubbed the nape of Rian’s neck with one hand, speaking to Rian as the smaller man caught his breath from laughing. Because Taeju had initiated physical contact without hesitation throughout their drinking session, Rian did not feel any particular aversion. To be precise, the alcohol in his veins seemed to have dulled his defenses.

His senses consumed by the sight, Taeju could hardly tear his eyes from Kwon Rian, whose flushed face looked as plump and soft as a ripe peach. Inside Taeju’s trousers, his fully engorged cock was swollen to the point of bursting. Taeju deliberately released a thick wave of his own pheromones as well. Whenever Kwon Rian responded to an Alpha’s pheromones by weeping slick between his thighs, that wanton scent never failed to make Taeju’s mouth water.

“So pretty,” Taeju murmured under his breath.

Gulping down dry saliva, Taeju was walking toward the house, devouring Kwon Rian with his eyes like a tantalizing feast just out of reach, when it happened.

Suddenly catching the vibration of the phone that had been buzzing for some time, Kwon Rian jumped in fright. The jarring interruption shattered Kim Taeju’s euphoric mood and instantly snapped Rian out of his drunken haze.

Checking the illuminated screen in rising horror, Rian cried in panic, “Huh? A call! What do I do? I forgot to contact my hyung! What time is it?!”

Rian’s complexion turned ghastly pale in an instant. With a face that looked ready to burst into tears at any second, he rummaged frantically through his bag to retrieve the phone. Turning white as a sheet, he panicked as though a catastrophe had just struck.

Sure enough, the moment Rian checked the caller ID, he stamped his feet in distress and looked up at Kim Taeju.

“It’s my hyung… What should I do?” Rian whimpered.

Taeju shrugged casually. “Just answer it. It’s only your brother, so what’s the big deal?”

Tears welled thick in Rian’s large eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. Taeju could not comprehend why receiving a single phone call from a brother warranted such frantic hysteria.

Patting Rian’s back with casual nonchalance, Taeju told him to just take the call. Taeju simply could not understand why a twenty-one-year-old adult was trembling in such terror over an older brother.

“H-Hello?” Rian stammered into the phone.

Evidently it was a video call, as Rian accepted the connection while staring down into the screen.

Yu-gyeom’s face appeared on the display, his expression tight and demanding, —”Rian? Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

Faltering under his brother’s piercing gaze, Rian stammered, “Hyung, the thing is… I accidentally forgot and…”

—”Haa, I thought something had happened to you,” Yu-gyeom exhaled heavily over the line.

Yu-gyeom’s stifled sigh and relieved voice filtered through the phone. Keeping his presence quiet, Taeju walked beside Rian. In the distance, Rian’s house came into view. The lights were entirely off, indicating that no one had arrived home yet. It seemed Kwon Rian’s hyung had not returned either.

—”Rian, are you home? Are you still outside?” Yu-gyeom pressed over the line.

Following his initial relief, Yu-gyeom’s interrogating tone brought Rian to an abrupt halt. Because he had never told a single lie to his brother in his life, Rian parted his lips in mounting panic.

“Huh? Actually, that is…” Rian faltered.

“Hello there!” Taeju greeted cheerfully.

“Ah!” Rian flinched in alarm.

Right at that moment, Kim Taeju poked his face into the frame beside the hesitating younger man. Flashing a broad grin, Taeju greeted Yu-gyeom on the screen.

The instant Taeju appeared beside Rian’s tearful face, Yu-gyeom’s expression visibly hardened. The anxiety and irritation that had built up within Yu-gyeom while Rian failed to answer the phone instantly curdled into sheer hostility.

“Hyung-nim~ Rian had some drinks with our friends today, and I’m walking him home right now,” Taeju declared cheerfully.

—”…Ah, is that so…?” Yu-gyeom replied, his tone chillingly low.

“Yes, so don’t worry! I’ll make sure Rian gets home safe and sound. Please don’t scold him too harshly~” Taeju added playfully.

Watching Taeju act as though he were someone significant to Kwon Rian struck an ominous, bizarre chord. Pleading with him not to scold Rian as if the younger Alpha were the boy’s lover or guardian was more than enough to turn Yu-gyeom’s stomach in fury.

Yu-gyeom had no desire to exchange another word with Kim Taeju. That icy revulsion extended equally toward Rian for being with the boy. That Kwon Rian dared to drink with anyone other than him—and worse, that some Alpha bastard was escorting the boy all the way to their front door—was utterly inconceivable, an intolerable transgression that should never have occurred.

Had it not been for that abrupt meeting, none of this would have happened. Dammit. For a split second, the urge to quit his company altogether surged through Yu-gyeom.

Yu-gyeom stared coldly at Rian through the screen. As if knowing precisely what he had done wrong, Rian appeared on the verge of breaking down in tears. Looking at that tear-stricken expression, Yu-gyeom wanted nothing more than to race home this very instant, shove his cock deep into the boy’s lower half until the flesh was raw, and thrust mercilessly to punish him.

—”…Rian?” Yu-gyeom called out.

Unlike his usual self, Kim Taeju smiled with affable charm as he spoke to Yu-gyeom. The moment Yu-gyeom registered Taeju’s presence, he ignored the younger Alpha entirely, focusing his attention solely on Rian.

“Yes? I—I’m almost home, hyung… I’ll go inside right away,” Rian stammered desperately.

—”…Haa. Call me when you get inside,” Yu-gyeom commanded coldly.

Trembling, Rian peered hesitantly at the screen. “Hyung… Are you mad at me?”

Yu-gyeom’s icy voice cut sharply through the speaker, —”Yes. Right now, I am extremely furious and disgusted. You made me worry, and do you even realize it’s past ten o’clock?”

“…Hyung,” Rian whimpered, his voice trembling.

When Yu-gyeom openly vented his fury, Rian turned deathly pale. Watching Rian cower in sheer terror, Kim Taeju furrowed his brow in bewilderment.

—”Go inside the house, Kwon Rian,” Yu-gyeom ordered.

The call ended abruptly with a click. Kim Taeju cast a sidelong glance at Rian, who was scuttling forward with tiny, panicked steps like a puppy desperate to relieve itself.

“Why are you so terrified of your hyung?” Taeju asked.

Rian flinched, startled. “Huh?”

“And ten o’clock? Is your curfew seriously ten?” Taeju pressed.

Rian murmured anxiously, “…Yeah. Isn’t yours? Come to think of it, you need to hurry home too.”

“Hey, you’re kidding, right? What kind of bastard over twenty has a curfew? At that point, that isn’t just overprotection—it’s an obsession,” Taeju scoffed.

Looking completely lost, Rian blinked. “…What?”

Kim Taeju smirked as he said those words, but Rian wore a face that could not fathom why this was something to laugh about. Finding himself struck by a strange sensation at that naive innocence, Taeju tilted his head. Taeju stared at him incredulously. “You seriously have a curfew?”

“Doesn’t… everyone have one?” Rian asked innocently.

Taeju scoffed, barking in pure disbelief, “What?!”

At Rian’s words, Kim Taeju’s face crumpled in real time, contorting with sheer astonishment. But to Rian, none of that mattered right now. The problem was that his brother, Yu-gyeom, had sounded in an exceedingly foul mood when hanging up just moments ago.

If Rian didn’t get home this second and call to confirm he was back, there was no telling how Yu-gyeom might punish him or lash out. A beating with a rod or a loud scolding would have been preferable. But Yu-gyeom had always punished Rian in an entirely different manner.

Sex was a sort of reward disguised as punishment, but when Yu-gyeom was genuinely furious…

Rian hastily gathered his bag, his voice trembling with urgency. “I think I have to get going right away.”

Yu-gyeom wouldn’t come home, leaving Rian drowning in unbearable anxiety.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Rian hastily waved to Kim Taeju and sprinted toward the house just steps away.

“Hey! Kwon Rian!” Taeju shouted after him.

By the time Taeju reached out to grab him, Rian was already far out of reach. He bolted inside, and a moment later, lights began flicking on one by one in the dark interior. Soon, Kwon Rian’s silhouette appeared against the window. The frantic, hurried pace at which he paced back and forth vividly proved that his earlier panic after taking his brother’s call had been no exaggeration of Taeju’s imagination.

Taeju lingered there for a long time, his gaze tenaciously tracking Kwon Rian’s silhouette.

“What bizarre brothers,” Taeju muttered. “A ten-o’clock curfew?”

At this point, overprotection was bordering on obsession.