Chapter 31 Part 1

Chaeheon wet his lips in regret. If they hadn’t met at all, it would be one thing, but he wished he could see Lee Jun a little longer. He focused all his attention on the lingering scent, like Lee Jun’s afterimage, which only made him feel more tantalized. He wanted to be in Lee Jun’s arms and freely inhale his pheromones.

“Hah.”

Then he let out a scoff. Why could he smell Lee Jun’s pheromones while he was serving? He had thoroughly hidden it from him. It was a very faint pheromone, one he wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for himself, but even that felt precious and annoying at the same time.

“I’ll just…”

Chaeheon stood up from his seat, intending to go find Lee Jun. It seemed he was determined to somehow hold onto him and talk today. As Chaeheon moved, a strange tension filled the air. Those who came with him wondered what Chaeheon would say when he caught Lee Jun, and the staff’s expressions were even more unreadable.

Just as Chaeheon took a couple more steps and was about to reach Lee Jun…

“The owner is here.”

The atmosphere changed as a man entered through the open door of the restaurant. Chaeheon, curious, turned to see a young man walking in with a relaxed gait.

“Everything alright?”

“Owner.”

As Lee Jun, who had been working with a poker face until now, came forward with a look of welcome, Chaeheon’s eyebrows twitched. Lee Jeong-yun, who was also watching, mumbled in surprise.

“The Senior who’s practically ice at school is smiling here.”

Chaeheon had a similar thought. He wasn’t laughing loudly, but he was initiating conversation and showing pleasure. The owner was a tall man who appeared to be in his thirties. And from the pheromones he emitted, Chaeheon knew he was an Alpha.

“What is this?”

Chaeheon frowned at the familiar sensation. It bothered him that he found the pheromones of this Alpha, who was getting on his nerves, to be familiar.

“Ah, damn it.”

He knew why. He was the owner of the clothes Lee Jun had worn.

Chaeheon’s sharp gaze pierced the owner.

“It feels like it’s been a long time. Is it because I see you almost every day?”

The owner didn’t just receive Lee Jun’s greeting; he put his arm around his shoulder.

“But I saw you last week.”

Lee Jun replied without any sign of stopping him from putting his arm around his shoulder.

“If I come here, I can see you every day, but it feels awkward only seeing you on weekends.”

Lee Jun, understanding why the owner, Park Geon-u, said it had been a long time, simply nodded slightly. He had his back to Chaeheon, who was seated at the group table, but he could feel his gaze.

“Well, we have been together since the opening.”

As if unaware, Park Geon-u leaned his body against Lee Jun.

“It makes me sad that you’re busy. But Lee Jun.”

“Yes.”

“Not ‘Owner,’ but ‘Hyung’.”

It was a request to change the title. Even though “Owner” was correct, Park Geon-u occasionally asked to be called “Hyung,” so Lee Jun just smiled vaguely.

In the meantime, Park Geon-u handed over one of the items he was carrying in both hands.

“Take this.”

“What is this?”

“Tonic.”

Park Geon-u ruffled Lee Jun’s hair and then lowered his hand. He unnecessarily puffed out his chest at the sight of Lee Jun meticulously examining what he was given.

“You must be having a hard time these days.”

Park Geon-u raised his eyebrows in front of Lee Jun, who was just staring at the box without answering.

“Never mind the thanks, just try one. You’re good with bitter things, right?”

As Lee Jun only stared, Park Geon-u shook his head, thinking it was a refusal.

“If you’re worried about the others, don’t be. I brought some for them too.”

And when he held out the items in his other hand, the staff took them, checked them, and liked them. Judging by the general atmosphere, it seemed like he had done some shopping, but Lee Jun was the only one who received the tonic.

“Owner.”

“What?”

“Did you, by any chance, squeeze these guys here?”

Lee Jun lifted the tonic box he had been staring at. When it was at eye level with Park Geon-u, he pointed to the black goats frolicking on a hill. No way?

“Yeah.”

“You made it from these kids running around here?”

“Well, something like that. But don’t worry about it too much. There are pork restaurants where pigs dance, aren’t there?”

Park Geon-u, realizing what Lee Jun disliked, quickly added, but it was no use.

“Owner, you eat it.”

“No. It’s tonic. Tonic.”

Lee Jun shivered even more and waved his hand.

“I’m fine.”

“I brought it for you because you’re going back to school and might be tired, and this is how you act? You’ll be in your thirties soon.”

As Lee Jun crossed the hall, Park Geon-u stood with his weight on one leg, giving him a skewed look. He mouthed, “Are you really not going to eat it?”, as if giving him a chance, but it was ultimately a threat.

Despite Lee Jun shaking his head in refusal, Park Geon-u let out a “ha” laugh, then grabbed a tonic, intending to feed it to him himself. Lee Jun backed away, trying to enter the kitchen, but was blocked by someone just coming out, so he quickly changed direction.

“Lee Jun. Come here.”

Park Geon-u called Lee Jun as if he were a child caught between hide-and-seek and tag.

“Come here. You, who will soon be an older man. Come quickly and eat it to be a good adult, hm?”

The staff chuckled, their shoulders shaking, at the sight of Park Geon-u trying to catch Lee Jun. They laughed silently so as not to displease the group customers, but the atmosphere was not unnoticeable. After all, it was a small Pasta Restaurant with only six tables.

“Lee Jun Senior is really good at conversing here.”

As Lee Jeong-yun spoke as if fascinated, Chaeheon replied in a low voice.

“Indeed… They seem close.”

Discomfortingly so. Chaeheon mumbled the rest to himself.

Chaeheon took out the phone he had in his pocket. He pressed a number he knew by heart, so familiar he had it memorized, and Lee Jun’s name appeared. Chaeheon, who had impulsively dialed the number, wanting to call immediately, irritably put his phone back.

Lee Jun, who had entered the staff room, first pulled up the breath he had been forcing down.

“Haa.”

How did Chaeheon come? Though it was a coincidence, it was too untimely for him to appear just as Lee Jun was thinking about him. As he was momentarily catching his breath, intending to go out soon, Park Geon-u followed him into the staff room.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

To feign indifference, Lee Jun pretended to adjust his clothes, untying and re-tying his apron strings.