Chapter 32 Part 1

“The hall isn’t that wide, but this space is nicely decorated.”

Lee Jun, surprised by Chaeheon’s impression of the interior, soon frowned. He hadn’t told Chaeheon that the Pasta Restaurant was a renovated two-story detached house. Because he had something else to say to him.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Lee Jun sighed and rose from his seat. Park Geon-u must not have been able to stop Chaeheon from pushing his way in, simply because he knew Lee Jun.

“Get out, now.”

He intended to push Chaeheon out and close the door. If Chaeheon resisted, Lee Jun was even prepared to push him all the way to the main hall.

“If you’re trying to push me away, you’d better not.”

Chaeheon shook his head as Lee Jun approached. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he clearly had no intention of leaving.

“This isn’t a place where you can just do as you please.”

Even as a customer, his patience had limits.

“Do as I please…”

Chaeheon repeated Lee Jun’s words as if savoring them, then let out a scoff. He wondered if that deflated laugh, somewhat resembling annoyance and disappointment, was just his imagination. In any case, Lee Jun wanted to get Chaeheon out before any other staff or the owner came in.

“Oh, the other staff here… Ah. You’ve already met.”

It was the older sister who worked in the kitchen. Leaning forward with her hand on the doorknob, she looked between them, then spoke as if it was good news.

“I told the customer he could lie down for a bit because he said he had a headache. Could you find some medicine for him? I have to go back to the kitchen.”

“No, that…”

Lee Jun reached out to grab his older sister, but she had already left. She even kindly closed the half-open door, completely blocking Lee Jun’s escape route.

Neither Lee Jun nor Chaeheon spoke. It was a situation born of a slight misunderstanding, so words failed them.

“I…”

As Chaeheon began to speak, Lee Jun flinched and turned his head away from the door, looking towards the opposite side. He practically turned his back on Chaeheon, looking at the farthest point. But, as luck would have it, that was where the mirror was. Lee Jun bit the inside of his cheek, watching Chaeheon in the reflection.

This isn’t right.

It was embarrassing enough to run into him by chance, but now there was a misunderstanding.

“I’m not some terrible kid who acts selfishly like that.”

Chaeheon’s lips curled in the mirror. He knew exactly what Lee Jun was thinking and was laughing at him, but Lee Jun couldn’t tell him not to laugh.

“Don’t think that just because a Senior barged in, I would do the same.”

“When did I ever…”

Lee Jun, feeling wronged, started to retort, then met Chaeheon’s eyes as he turned his head. More precisely, he met Chaeheon’s eyes in the mirror.

At Chaeheon’s look, as if asking “don’t you know?”, the memory instantly came back to him. The very day he encountered Chaeheon at the Club IN. Park Dong-hu opened the door, and he was just there by chance and saw it – all those words were just excuses. He had, after all, looked inside without permission.

“I’m sorry.”

Lee Jun turned his head and apologized, making direct eye contact with Chaeheon.

“I… I thought you just came barging in to see me. I’ll get you some medicine.”

Lee Jun, who was wondering where the emergency medicine was and started to move, was stopped by his wrist being grabbed, pulling him back in front of Chaeheon. Before he could ask why he was held, Chaeheon’s words came quickly.

“I came to see Senior. The pain was just an excuse.”

“…”

So the pain was a lie. Indeed, Chaeheon had rarely been sick before. Lee Jun himself caught more colds; Chaeheon never got sick even if they kissed. Was it fortunate that Lee Jun hadn’t misunderstood everything? Or should he feel heavy-hearted that he was the reason Chaeheon appeared like this?

“Barging in haphazardly just becomes a nuisance later.”

Chaeheon’s words, tinged with a laugh, reached Lee Jun’s ears through his confusion. Lee Jun’s eyes narrowed. Chaeheon was talking about what had happened to him at the Club IN. Because he had interfered with Chaeheon, they ended up sticking together at school and getting continuously entangled.

“Is that funny?”

It was already uncomfortable for Lee Jun to associate with Chaeheon again, but Chaeheon seemed to treat it like a game.

“That’s a question that doesn’t need an answer.”

Since Chaeheon didn’t readily admit it, Lee Jun pulled his wrist away from Chaeheon’s grasp. It came free without much effort, making Lee Jun feel that Chaeheon wasn’t trying to hold on. But perhaps thinking he had fully escaped Chaeheon’s grip was his mistake.

Instead of releasing his hand, Chaeheon reached for his neck. He wasn’t choking him, just touching him as if caressing him, but for Lee Jun, who was experiencing it, it was just as tense a moment.

“What is it?”

“Pheromones.”

Lee Jun frowned, not understanding, and Chaeheon lowered his head. Lee Jun knew Chaeheon’s head was coming to his nape but couldn’t avoid it. As he stood frozen, he felt Chaeheon inhale at his nape.

Only then did Lee Jun realize he was trying to smell his pheromones, and he lifted his arm to smell his sleeve. Having detected a very faint scent of his own pheromones on his clothes, Lee Jun pushed Chaeheon away.

“I didn’t release pheromones. It’s just on my clothes.”

He didn’t strictly control them even at home, so it seemed a little had permeated his washed clothes. Chaeheon obediently stepped back and checked his clothes.

“Be careful. Other people might smell it.”

Lee Jun wanted to say things like, I’ll take care of it myself, or No one here cares about my Secondary Gender, but he held back. Chaeheon had pointed out something he hadn’t known, and to say no one cared about his Secondary Gender… well, he couldn’t exactly say that with confidence.

“If you’re going to stay using the excuse of being sick, then stay, otherwise, leave.”

Lee Jun opened the side table drawer, took out the medicine, and placed it on top. He knew Chaeheon wasn’t sick, but he put it there conspicuously in case someone else asked.

This was all he could do. Thinking he didn’t want to be with Chaeheon any longer, he started to leave, but before he could grasp the doorknob, his arm was grabbed.

As soon as Chaeheon grabbed him, Lee Jun sharply swung his arm, pulling it free.

“Stop grabbing me.”