Chapter 12

11.

“Why? Do you have something urgent at home?”

“My part-time shift is over, so I should go.”

“You’ve been working all day without eating. I’m not a cruel boss; I just want to buy a meal for my good part-timer. No… that makes me sound old, so let’s just say I’m an older friend.”

“That’s not much better.”

“Lee Jun, you’ll hurt my feelings if you say that. We’ve known each other for a while now.”

Park Dong-hu made a tearful face as if Lee Jun was being too harsh. They had spent quite some time as close friends after Lee Jun coincidentally met him at the business run by Park Dong-hu’s parents.

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

Lee Jun vaguely trailed off. Just as he wondered if he should say he couldn’t eat with him because he wasn’t going straight home, Park Dong-hu spoke.

“Take care of yourself, don’t overdo it. Don’t keep pushing yourself; if it’s hard, at least tell me. I might be able to help you before you graduate.”

Lee Jun paused, his hand still holding his phone.

“Senior.”

Lee Jun looked at Park Dong-hu with cold eyes. He was no longer the affable junior who had just been speaking to his boss and close Senior. Seeing Lee Jun’s gaze, Park Dong-hu hid a feeling of regret.

“We agreed not to talk about that.”

Lee Jun’s quiet words built a wall between him and Park Dong-hu. He knew that Park Dong-hu’s parents were big players in the restaurant industry, but he had never relied on him once. On the contrary, he had refused drinks Park Dong-hu offered to buy and received the same hourly wage as everyone else for his part-time work. He had maintained his balance so far because if he accepted help and leaned on others, everything he had built could crumble in an instant.

“It’s not that, I just know you work until dawn every day. That’s why I said it.”

Park Dong-hu spoke soothingly, but Lee Jun was unyielding. Instead, he was wary of Park Dong-hu getting too deeply involved in his affairs.

“Senior. I don’t accept your money without reason.”

“I was going to tell you to pay me back later.”

“I have no reason to be in debt.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. You can go.”

In the end, it was Park Dong-hu who gave up first. The outcome had been decided from the moment Lee Jun’s expression changed. Lee Jun turned and walked two steps before letting out a small sigh.

Park Dong-hu was just being kind to him, but because Lee Jun knew his intentions, he reacted sensitively. He might have been comparing Park Dong-hu to his father even more because he was a kind Senior from a good family. But Park Dong-hu wasn’t his father. Feeling sorry, Lee Jun stopped and turned around.

“Senior.”

Park Dong-hu, who was urgently rubbing his lips, looking for a cigarette, saw Lee Jun.

“I like you, Senior. That’s why I especially don’t want to receive anything from you.”

Lee Jun casually said “See you tomorrow” and left. Park Dong-hu, speechless and looking bewildered, stared down the path Lee Jun had taken, wondering when he had even found a cigarette.

“That’s truly your problem.”

If you just throw out sweet words like that and leave, what’s left for the person staying behind?

Lee Jun fiddled with his phone and slowed his pace, unaware if Park Dong-hu was still standing in front of the building before going inside.

“Why on earth is he telling me to come?”

Lee Jun stared down at his phone, unable to understand. It was fine that Chaeheon had contacted him to meet today. Chaeheon had never really done anything to please him anyway, so there was nothing specific to understand. The problem was the location he’d told him to come to. He couldn’t figure out why Chaeheon wanted him to come to the house they used to frequent every day.

‘What should I do?’

He needed to address it at some point, so a serious conversation with Chaeheon was necessary. But he didn’t want to do it today. Thanks to his nap in Chaeheon’s car yesterday, his fatigue had eased, and remembering how well he’d been eating lately made it hard to push Chaeheon away.

Lee Jun, whose thoughts leaned towards doing it another time, ignored Chaeheon’s message and turned towards home. As if knowing Lee Jun’s thoughts, his phone vibrated heavily again.

“Are you really going to leave?”

A man with an Omega Secondary Gender, who had been watching Chaeheon’s indifferent face, pressed closer to him. The scent of Pheromones wafted around him, trying to attract Chaeheon’s attention with flirting.

“Just stay with me today.”

“It’s no fun.”

“How do you know it won’t be fun?”

Chaeheon took another sip of whiskey and set the glass down. As he looked at his phone again, the man emitting Pheromones pouted, pretending to be sulky. He wanted to be with Chaeheon no matter what. The Pheromones he had caught a whiff of earlier were so good. He wanted to smell more of them, but Chaeheon seemed uninterested, oblivious to his thoughts.

Instead, Chaeheon stared intently at his phone. He was trying to figure out the mind of the other person, who had read his message but hadn’t replied.

He must have been getting ready for work in the morning. He must have been working in the afternoon. And now, near the end of the day, preparing to go home?

Even with his own reasons, Lee Jun’s lack of reply to his messages wasn’t justified.

‘So that’s how it’s going to be?’

Chaeheon sent another message. He sent something akin to a threat, telling Lee Jun to decide whose house they should meet in front of, but again, there was no reply even after it was read. Glancing eyes watched Chaeheon’s face as he debated whether to just call. Most people at the gathering were subtly observing Chaeheon’s reactions, pretending not to. Chaeheon, however, was only thinking of his heartless ex-lover who wouldn’t contact him.

“Honestly, Lee Jun, you’ve never reacted easily,” he thought, and just as he was about to make a call, his phone vibrated briefly. Chaeheon confirmed Lee Jun’s name at the top and sighed, as if to say he couldn’t deal with this. Thinking, ‘Why is it so hard to get a single response?’, Chaeheon opened the message window, and his eyes were fixed on the text, unmoving.

– Who are you?

“What…”

Chaeheon chuckled in disbelief at Lee Jun’s cute prank, acting as if he didn’t know him at all.

Why is Senior so cute?

Chaeheon giggled at the four characters on his phone. Too absorbed in Lee Jun’s reaction, he didn’t notice the atmosphere in the room had changed, focusing only on his phone screen.

“Who is it?”

Chaeheon frowned at the sudden rush of Pheromones and raised his head. The man he had just met today had wide eyes, a look as if he’d known him for a long time. He was subtly flirting with Chaeheon.

“Don’t get your Pheromones on me.”

Chaeheon pushed the man away with his words to remove the Pheromones and looked around. Men were enjoying drinks, each with at least one partner beside them.

It was a gathering created with the aim of fostering camaraderie between families. Today, his closest friend had initiated it, but he still found it displeasing.

“Are you leaving already?”

As Chaeheon stood up, Han Jeong-min, who was sitting in the head seat, called out to him. He was the host of today’s gathering and a friend Chaeheon felt comfortable with. He knew that Chaeheon, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, had been acting bored the entire time, from the moment he sat near the entrance. Chaeheon lightly nodded at Han Jeong-min’s question.

“I’ll contact you.”

Chaeheon, finishing up hastily, was about to grasp the doorknob when the door was pulled open and someone from outside appeared. He was smaller than Chaeheon but quite solidly built with a thick neck. He raised his dark eyebrows, looking displeased, then showed a surprised expression as he realized Chaeheon was standing in front of him.

“Huh?”

“Long time no see, Jeong Yu-han.”

“Yeah. I just got here, are you leaving?”

“Yep.”

“You just arrived. I just got here, stay a little longer.”

As Chaeheon stood still, showing no intention of doing so, Jeong Yu-han, wondering what was going on, stood facing him. Realizing belatedly, he chuckled in exasperation. Seeing Chaeheon immediately exit as he moved aside, Jeong Yu-han shook his head.

“The next gathering is mine. Don’t forget.”

Chaeheon didn’t reply, but Jeong Yu-han didn’t press him further and went inside. To the complaints of “Why are you only just arriving now?”, Jeong Yu-han responded with an annoyed voice.

“Don’t even ask. Because of some bstard…” Jeong Yu-han’s voice faded as the space was cut off.

Chaeheon stepped outside and took a long breath, as if to clear his congested chest. This gathering was always utterly unpleasant, no matter when he left. Since the usefulness of this gathering had run its course anyway, he decided he should contact Han Jeong-min separately soon to sort things out.

Chaeheon picked up his phone again. He had sent Lee Jun his home address, but would he come? From the “Who are you?” message, it seemed Lee Jun didn’t want to meet today.

To the sound of footsteps echoing in the space, Lee Jun, who had been leaning against the wall, raised his head. There stood Chaeheon, his face surprised upon finding Lee Jun.

“What the…”

Lee Jun fully displayed an exasperated expression. “What the…” after he was the one who called him here? Seeing Lee Jun’s expression change, Chaeheon added clarification for why he had blurted out those words.

“I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Lee Jun’s expression turned cold. After sending a message saying he’d come to his house if he didn’t, how could he say that? To have followed him like a dog for his teasing, he felt so pathetic he couldn’t even speak.