Chapter 14

Lee Jun ruffled his hair or crumpled his innocent clothes in frustration. Even as he held back the urge to tear at his chest, exasperated by his conversation with Chaeheon, he unknowingly exerted force.

“Stop it.”

At Lee Jun’s reaction, which seemed to reject everything, Chaeheon’s gaze dropped, hidden by his thick eyelashes. Lee Jun’s repeated rejections creased Chaeheon’s forehead. It wasn’t a wrinkle from age, and it suited him well, but it clearly showed his displeasure.

“Stop what? Should I talk about why we broke up back then?”

Lee Jun fell silent at Chaeheon’s sudden, lightning-bolt question. Back then, anyone could see that their breakup wasn’t due to a loss of feelings.

“You were in a good mood just this morning. Then you disappeared in a flash, cut off contact, and went into hiding. After waiting day and night for my submerged lover, the words I heard when we met were a notice of breakup.”

“The way we broke up was a bit selfish,” Chaeheon mused, stroking his chin. His words had the effect of grating on Lee Jun’s nerves. Feeling like staying with him any longer would only gnaw at his sanity, Lee Jun took a step back.

“Not that.”

Chaeheon waved his hand, inviting him inside, even though Lee Jun still seemed unwilling to enter.

“I wanted to hear your reason today, but are you really going to leave? Or should I try to guess?”

“You won’t get it.”

Lee Jun’s provocation made Chaeheon’s forcefully raised eyebrows betray his mood. Lee Jun turned his head from the stinging gaze. The mirror in the entryway reflected Chaeheon’s sharply honed profile. His gaze on Lee Jun was piercing.

“I don’t like this. You always hold out until the very end, Senior?”

“I’m just saying you wouldn’t know anyway.”

Lee Jun spoke indifferently, as if Chaeheon’s gaze meant nothing. Only then could he escape this situation. To avoid getting more entangled with him, he had to remain unfazed by that face, where emotions were so clearly visible.

That was the only way he could endure right now. Even without Chaeheon, Lee Jun was busy with his daily life. He needed to get top grades in school, and simply carving out time for part-time work and freelance projects required him to manage his time down to the minute.

But Chaeheon kept him at school on weekdays, asking to eat, and today he casually contacted him, saying to meet after his part-time job. To avoid losing any more time, he couldn’t give in here. And he had no intention of telling Chaeheon his circumstances anyway.

“So it wasn’t studying abroad.”

Chaeheon’s expression relaxed, as if he hadn’t been annoyed at all. This came with the sharp observation that his outwardly revealed excuse of studying abroad was merely a pretense. He shouldn’t have confidently said Chaeheon wouldn’t know.

Lee Jun belatedly tried to affirm that it was true, but Chaeheon was a step faster.

“Right, I didn’t think it would be that.”

Now, Lee Jun didn’t know what to do.

“Then there must be another reason… the scent I only sense from Senior. Another Alpha’s pheromones. And…”

Lee Jun, wanting to hide his feelings from him, subtly shifted his gaze towards Chaeheon’s philtrum. Even so, the gaze fixed on him, from his forehead to his eyes, was too strong to ignore.

He felt Chaeheon drawing closer as a scent wafted over him. The distance, just barely wide enough for a finger, was so close that he could feel Chaeheon’s body heat. Lee Jun unconsciously held his breath.

Chaeheon’s hand reached for the back of Lee Jun’s neck and gently caressed it. His thumb stroked the hollow behind Lee Jun’s ear, freely fondling Lee Jun’s pale neck. Lee Jun, thinking his words hadn’t worked at all, tried to swat Chaeheon’s hand away. But Chaeheon’s hand suddenly changed course, gripping Lee Jun’s head as if to embrace it.

“Baby’s scent.”

Lee Jun gasped. He had naturally assumed Chaeheon wouldn’t figure it out, but when the word “baby” suddenly came out, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest in surprise. Just when he thought it was fortunate he wasn’t making eye contact with Chaeheon, Chaeheon deliberately lowered himself further, bringing his eyes to Lee Jun’s level.

“Were you surprised?”

Chaeheon’s voice softened again, like a gentle breeze.

“There was an unfamiliar smell over the usual scent I sensed from Senior. I wondered if you had another lover, but something felt off.”

Chaeheon tilted his head, covetously gazing at Lee Jun’s nape.

“The more I smelled it, the sweeter it got, and I was confused about what it was. I spent a lot of time pondering while inhaling it from you when you were asleep.”

When Lee Jun opened his eyes in the car, he had met Chaeheon’s gaze right in front of him. At that moment, his heart had almost stopped, but Chaeheon had simply given him a small smile and casually retreated. His face had been innocent, as if he knew nothing…

Lee Jun’s gaze slowly moved up. It lingered on Chaeheon’s broad shoulders before falling to his chest. He should have realized it when Chaeheon told him to change his clothes, saying he smelled different. To deduce the existence of a baby, which he thought Chaeheon would never know about, just from a scent.

“No. I don’t know why you’re thinking that, but it’s not that.”

Despite trying to keep his voice emotionless, the end of his sentences kept cracking. He wished Chaeheon wouldn’t notice, so his words trailed off. Thus, instead of the end of a questioning tone rising, it strangely lingered.

Lee Jun tried to run his hand through his hair, wanting to ruffle it unnecessarily, but his wrist was stopped by Chaeheon’s arm. He tried to touch his hair, avoiding Chaeheon’s arm leaning against the wall, then lowered his hand again. Even this small action felt self-conscious in front of Chaeheon.

Sure enough, Chaeheon’s eyes followed Lee Jun’s hand. Chaeheon gently placed his fingertips on Lee Jun’s chin, light as a feather. Perhaps because of his cautiously approaching touch, Lee Jun couldn’t swat his hand away as he had before.

“Do you think I’d get confused about the scent from Yun I-jun?”

You always acted like a dog only for Senior, but now you’re acting like you know nothing, Chaeheon’s lips curved, reflected in Lee Jun’s complex eyes. Lee Jun’s trembling breath flowed down Chaeheon’s hand. He absolutely couldn’t let Chaeheon find out.

“Come inside if you’re more curious.”

Chaeheon turned his body as if to finish the rest inside. Chaeheon erased the boundary Lee Jun had created and drew a new line. If Lee Jun crossed this line, he would have to admit that part of what Chaeheon said about the baby’s scent was true.

Lee Jun had only one choice. To retreat. There was no benefit for Lee Jun in saying anything more. Instead of looking at Chaeheon, Lee Jun, who had been focused on the space between his neck and shoulder, slowly hardened his resolve.

Lee Jun slowly reached out his hand. The cold doorknob touched his index finger, then each finger gripped it. If he buried all the unfinished talk and returned it to nothing…

Chaeheon’s laughing breath entered Lee Jun’s ear just as he turned around. Startled, Lee Jun froze, unable to look at Chaeheon’s face looming beside him.

“Too late. You should have left when you were hesitating.”

Chaeheon cruelly removed Lee Jun’s hand from the doorknob and pulled him inside. Lee Jun, who had entered with his shoes on, belatedly tried to pull back, but his lost balance couldn’t be regained, and he was helplessly dragged along.

“I’ve waited long enough, so now it’s my turn, isn’t it?”

Chaeheon released Lee Jun’s hand only after dragging him to the front of the sofa. As Lee Jun tried to look back at the path he had been dragged along, his body was once again weakly pushed down. Chaeheon, who had hit Lee Jun’s knees and pressed his shoulders to make him sit on the sofa, looked down at him.

Chaeheon acted as if he expected them to continue their conversation here, but Lee Jun was in no state to speak. He had only been dragged in, but his head, which had been full, was now empty. Lee Jun slowly exhaled as if taking a deep breath, then glared at Chaeheon, intending to scold him for taking control of his body.

“To treat someone who doesn’t want this so arbitrarily…”

Chaeheon bent down and pushed Lee Jun’s shoulders back. His back didn’t touch the sofa as if he were lying down, but he was perched on the edge of the sofa, resulting in an awkward sitting position.

Chaeheon’s hand moved up Lee Jun’s thigh.

“What are you doing?”

At Lee Jun’s sharp, high-pitched voice, Chaeheon’s hand, which had moved from Lee Jun’s thigh to his knee and then his calf, touched Lee Jun’s foot, specifically his sneaker. The large hand easily removed the sneaker, still holding the back of his foot.

Feeling the warmth of Chaeheon’s hand travel up his heel, Lee Jun brought his knees together and curled his feet. Lee Jun did nothing until Chaeheon, who had personally removed his shoes, placed them aside and returned. He simply sat there, recalling what had just happened to him.

Before he knew it, a bottle of wine and two glasses were on the table, and Chaeheon sat opposite Lee Jun. Chaeheon, calmly pouring the wine, didn’t seem like the person who had just been wrestling with him. He was so relaxed and at ease that he could look at anyone trying to tempt him with indifference. This, however, had the simultaneous effect of making him appear even more brazen and like a trickster.