Chapter 47

After Yu-gyeom left the room, Rian slowly opened his eyes. His brother had washed him, comforted him, and even sung him a lullaby.

Lying on his side, Rian could see the predawn sky. Sleep eluded him completely. He had merely pretended to slumber for fear of wearing Yu-gyeom out. In the heavy silence where only the sound of his own breathing echoed, Rian curled his body tighter.

I should have just stayed with hyung.

The childhood accident still dominated his mind, tormenting him.

Fireworks. His brother had called that accident fireworks, but his mother’s face dying in agony still haunted his dreams from time to time.

“Mom…” Rian murmured in the dark.

A face he yearned for with an ache in his chest. His brother was only trying to erase that memory to spare him from pain. Yes, as long as he had his brother, that was enough. Only his brother…

Rian comforted himself with the thought that his brother was all he needed, just as it had always been. Yet tonight felt subtly different. Unable to drift off, tossing and turning as endless thoughts tangled together, a sudden vibration shattered the eerie stillness.

Bzzz. The screen of his phone lit up in the dark.

It was a phone call. Startled, Rian reached out and snatched the phone. The moment he checked the caller ID displayed on the screen, he could not conceal his astonishment.

Two o’clock in the morning.

The caller was Kim Taeju.

Looking instinctively toward the bedroom door, Rian switched the phone to silent and drew a deep breath. Never before had he been in contact with a friend at such an hour. Terrified that his brother might notice—panicking at the thought that Yu-gyeom might be standing right outside the door—Rian pulled the duvet over his head and pressed the answer button.

Rian held the phone to his ear in the dark, whispering cautiously, “Hello?”

—”Kwon Rian. Not sleeping? Huh, I didn’t think you’d pick up. I just gave it a shot,” Taeju’s voice came through.

Why call if you thought I wouldn’t answer…? Pouting his lips, Rian nonetheless felt oddly glad to receive his friend’s call. But then a brief silence stretched over the line. Wondering if the call had dropped, Rian checked the screen before pressing it back to his ear.

“Taeju?” Rian called out softly.

—”…Yeah. Haa, are you really okay? You left like that earlier, so I was worried,” Taeju replied over the line.

Rian sat up in bed, asking in surprise, “Y-You were worried?”

His voice had risen for an instant before he caught himself and lowered it in alarm. Covering his mouth, Rian rustled beneath the blankets. In the dead of night, he remained acutely mindful of his brother. Yu-gyeom often worked late into the early hours.

—”Isn’t that obvious? You almost got into an accident. You were totally out of it. So what are you doing right now? Haven’t you slept?” Taeju asked.

Rian pulled the duvet up to his chin. “Yeah, I couldn’t fall asleep.”

—”Why, couldn’t you ask that hyung of yours to sing you a lullaby?” Taeju retorted.

“…Are you being sarcastic?” Rian asked.

—”It’s not even that. A dummy who looks like he wouldn’t notice no matter what someone did to him,” Taeju grumbled over the receiver.

Is Taeju mad? Rian’s pupils darted around in thought. He held his tongue for a moment and waited. Taeju’s tone sounded laced with grievances, leaving Rian rather confused. It sounded like concern on one hand, yet like scolding on the other.

Faint breathing drifted through the phone. A faint, trembling breath, an oddly agitated voice, and an awkward silence. In the end, Rian broke the silence first.

“Why did you call?” Rian asked softly into the quiet room. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

—”Just felt like it,” Taeju admitted with a quiet scoff. “I was worried, too.”

“…” Rian fell quiet.

—”And, well… I wanted to see you, too,” Taeju admitted.

Caught completely off guard, Rian stammered, “…Huh?”

—”Uh, well! By wanting to see you, I mean… it feels like my pheromones are acting up right now, that’s all,” Taeju blurted out.

“Ah…” Rian murmured softly.

Once again, an odd silence hung over the call. Just as Rian was about to tell him to hang up and see each other tomorrow, Taeju called out to him again.

—”Kwon Rian,” Taeju called out.

“Yeah?” Rian answered.

—”You know… I thought this before, but your voice,” Taeju began hesitantly.

“Yeah,” Rian prompted softly.

—”It’s really fucking hot,” Taeju said.

“…” Rian froze in stunned silence.

Wondering if he had misheard, Rian bit lightly at his fingernail, completely lost for words.

—”Your voice sounds so damn lewd… Maybe it’s weird to say this, but is it normal for an Alpha and an Omega to get turned on just by talking on the phone like this? Or am I the one who’s messed up?” Taeju asked.

Rian frowned into the receiver, stammering, “I, I think you’re the weird one…”

—”Guess so,” Taeju agreed quietly.

Ah, I need to hang up. A strange sensation gripped him. Kim Taeju’s low voice tickled against his ear so intimately that heat flared beneath his navel. Rian felt a flutter of panic at sensations he had never experienced with anyone other than Yu-gyeom.

“I-I’m hanging up,” Rian stammered.

Taeju’s voice dropped low and husky across the line, —”Want to video call?”

Rian froze in utter disbelief. “Huh?”

—”A video call,” Taeju pressed, his tone turning into an urgent plea. “I want to see your face right now. Please.”

“No,” Rian refused.

—”You promised you’d help me. I feel like I’m going to manifest completely. Right now… haa, Kwon Rian…” Taeju panted over the line.

“Wh-What are you doing?” Rian asked, flustered.

The other boy’s voice had grown strange. It sounded rough, like scraping metal or a low purr—bizarre. He sounded aroused, too. Why is he acting like this?

Why am I acting like this, too? Without realizing it, Rian slid a hand into his shorts. He could feel his underwear soaked through with wetness. Sucking in a sharp breath, his lower abdomen hollowed. All of a sudden, he felt a desperate urge to masturbate.

—”I’m jerking my fucking cock to your voice right now, Rian,” Taeju panted into the phone.

“…Nngh,” Rian whimpered softly.

—”Haa, I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry, but just a little longer…” Taeju groaned.

Kim Taeju was masturbating to the sound of his voice. The guy had to be out of his mind. No, come to think of it, Rian himself had often touched his own crotch while on the phone with Yu-gyeom. Caressing his pussy and stroking inside his soaked briefs, he had often pleasured himself to make his brother happy.

The sudden thought of his brother made Rian’s pussy pulse. Twitch, throb—his secret hole ached with a maddening itch, as if desperate to chew down on a finger.

Rian’s ragged, intermittent breathing carried over the phone and reached Taeju’s ear.

Panting heavily into the microphone, Taeju groaned, —”Ah, fuck… haah… ugh.”

“Haa, nngh…” Rian whimpered softly into the dark.

—”Rian, are you touching your pussy right now? Are you dripping wet? How much? Are you soaked through? Fuck, I’m so hard I could die,” Taeju panted over the line.

Even as Rian knew he shouldn’t be doing this, hearing another person’s crude, vulgar words for the first time in his life stirred a thrilling sense of depravity within him. Rian hastily pulled down his sweatpants, slipped his hand inside his underwear, and gently rubbed his pussy hole.

Slick. Copious secretions leaking from his hole coated his fingers.

“I-I’m not touching it… hngh,” Rian whimpered weakly.

His expression twisted into a tearful grimace. Concealed beneath the blanket, Rian’s flushed face grew hotter and hotter until it was thoroughly steeped in crimson. His mind had already gone completely blank, devoid of any coherent thought.

Ah, I shouldn’t be doing this… But it feels so good. Hngh.

Spreading his legs wide as he listened to Taeju’s groans over the phone, Rian began flicking and slapping his swollen clitoris with his fingertips, producing wet, squelching sounds.

—”Ugh, what are you doing? Huh? What are you doing right now?” Taeju groaned through the receiver.

Desperate not to be found out, Rian held his breath. Clenching his eyes shut, he kept teasing and rubbing his pussy to the sound of Kim Taeju’s voice. His mind was filled with only one desire—wishing his brother were here to lick and touch him.

“Haa, nngh…” Rian moaned, trembling under the sheets.

—”Haa, fuck. Where are you touching right now? Huh? Do you have a pussy too? How does it feel? Does it feel good? I want to see yours,” Taeju breathed raggedly into the phone.

“N-No… I’m not touch—hngh… Yeah, it feels good,” Rian whimpered, losing himself to the pleasure.

—”Rian, can’t you… ugh, can’t you show me just once on video call? Fuck, my dick’s about to burst right now just picturing your pussy,” Taeju pleaded with a strained grunt.

Kim Taeju now pleaded openly, shamelessly begging to see Rian’s lower half. But Rian shook his head and pressed his thighs together. Each time he slapped his wet slit, both of his holes twitched and throbbed, itching so intensely that he felt like he might die.

Rian’s face burned like fire as he stammered, “I-I’m going to hang up… hngh, if you keep acting like this…”