Dirty Switch

"Did I go too far with you?"
"I'm just taping it in case. I don’t want to make a mistake at the event."
Fortunately, Seo Baekhan treated Joo Taehyun as if nothing was wrong. If anything, he even seemed intrigued that Taehyun had instinctively shown a hint of caution.

He picked up the roll of tape Taehyun had dropped and nudged a stool with his shin, as if to say, "Put your foot up here."
"Hyung."
"Hurry. We don’t have time."

I can do it. It’s easier if I do it myself… Those kinds of arguments never worked on Seo Baekhan, unlike with the staff. In the end, Joo Taehyun obediently handed over his ankle. If it’s unavoidable, it’s better to just get it over with quickly.
His hand, calloused evenly from all sorts of exercise, gently wrapped around Taehyun’s sole. The way his thumb firmly fixed his ankle in place made it hit home again just how overwhelmingly big everything about Seo Baekhan really was.
Come to think of it, they weren’t that drastically different in height, but just being next to him made Taehyun feel inexplicably small.

"I really felt it this time."
He murmured quietly while still on one knee, absorbed in taping Taehyun’s leg.
"Your pheromones might be affecting me, too."

"...Really?"
Trying to sound indifferent, but he couldn't help twitching his toes. Seo Baekhan, being sharp, likely noticed.
Affecting him with my pheromones? Why is he suddenly bringing this up?

The Seo Baekhan Taehyun knew wasn’t someone who would share his own weaknesses with others for no reason. He was also not the type to let others catch on if something was shaking him, no matter what it was.
Even knowing Seo Baekhan had no idea about the imprint, Taehyun’s heart sank for no reason.
"You have a slightly different scent than usual. It's faint, but... I don’t mind it. I kind of like it."

Surprisingly, his expression looked relaxed. It wasn’t exactly "I like you" in the romantic sense—more like it didn’t bother him. That usual sharpness behind his laid-back, sly smile, which he always kept perfectly in place, seemed to have faded. Just a little.
That’s… good, right? It must be. It’s not like Seo Baekhan’s craving my pheromones the way I do his. So it can’t be an imprint or some kind of side effect.
"That’s a relief—cough, a relief. It must’ve been hard for you, dealing with someone you’re not even into."
He cautiously added that maybe it was just a matter of getting used to him after a few encounters.

"Once I’m fully healed, I think you’ll go back to how you were before."
That was the real point. Seo Baekhan was always quicker to pick up on things than Taehyun, so he hoped he wouldn’t even start to suspect the imprint. He just wanted him to think it was all temporary.
But Seo Baekhan didn’t respond. In fact… he looked a bit displeased. His brow subtly furrowed.

Why…? Wouldn’t that be a relief from his perspective?
No matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise, he was still an alpha. Even if his body reacted strangely—getting slick like an omega—he couldn’t exude a pheromone strong enough to enthrall another alpha.
So if Seo Baekhan really was affected by his scent, it had to be just from spending so much time being physically close. That had to be it. I mean, this is the guy who said he’d hate even being with an omega, just because they were male.

Taehyun forced himself to calm the turmoil inside and gently pulled his leg away from Seo Baekhan’s hold.
"Thank you, hyung. This should be enough. Then… I’ll go finish getting dressed."
"Will you?"

But instead of heading out, Seo Baekhan dropped himself into the chair in the dressing room. Taehyun blinked in confusion and then shut his eyes for a moment. What’s this? I meant for you to leave. Did it come across the wrong way?
Seo Baekhan lounged in the chair and casually crossed his legs, even tilting his chin at Taehyun like he was giving permission to go ahead and get dressed. It was… a bit much, but he honestly looked like one of those nasty rich bastards browsing luxury goods with no interest.
Then again, there’s no way someone like Seo Baekhan misunderstood what I meant. He’s probably just being difficult.

He didn’t want to seem overly self-conscious around him, but somehow, he was feeling really awkward. It’s not like he was doing a strip show. He was literally putting on a very proper, even stiff formal outfit.
He clipped the sock garters in place, which were tricky to fasten because of the tape, and pulled on his pants. The watch on his wrist was the one Seo Baekhan had given him recently for his birthday.
Even though he was covering every inch of his body in clothes and accessories, he felt more naked than ever.

Even without looking directly, he could feel Seo Baekhan’s gaze tracing over him. Thank god ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) I picked out my outfit in advance. If I hadn’t, I’d be freaking out—what’s he looking at, is there something wrong?—and making a fool of myself.
Trying to shake off the strange mood, Taehyun reached for the perfume bottle he always used.
Oh. Wait. I can already smell his pheromones just from breathing in here—should I really add perfume on top of that? It might not bother betas, but for trait-holders, it could be torture.

He got lost in this unfamiliar line of thought, and maybe Seo Baekhan misread his hesitation, because he suddenly stood up and asked,
"Want to wear my outer robe?"
Was he coming to help him pick something? Was he going to talk about the pheromones again? Taehyun had tensed up, but the suggestion that came out was totally unexpected.

"I mean, I can’t exactly walk around with my robe in your mouth at the event."
It had to be a reference to that time he left the house with Baekhan’s robe on. And since they’d just been talking about pheromones, and he was standing by the perfume shelf…
"You might be a bit small for it. But you’re just going to wear it over a jacket, so I guess my size is fine, right?"

He was probably planning to say something like, “No need to tease,” in a light tone—but Seo Baekhan actually seemed serious. He walked briskly out of the room, his leather shoes clicking down the hallway toward his own dressing room.
Taehyun slowly closed the mouth that had been awkwardly gaping. Sweat had gathered at the nape of his neck—he rubbed it away. …Honestly, he wanted to claw at his own chest, where his heart was pounding so violently it felt like it might leap out.
Had there ever been a time since they got married that they were this close? No—throughout all the years they’d known each other, this was a first.

He had never dared imagine they’d kiss, let alone have sex. And now, Seo Baekhan was casually offering to lend him his robe—already scented with his pheromones.
Compared to the four years they’d spent more like coworkers, this really did feel more like being a married couple. Or… maybe “sex partners” was more accurate.
In any case, the fact was, Joo Taehyun had gotten closer to him than ever before—just like he’d always wanted. But then why…

Why did it ache so much inside, the more he touched him?
Taehyun raised a hand and pressed it hard against his heated eyelid.
The anxiety of hiding the truth. The joy of finally getting close to him after all this time. And even as he felt all that, the ridiculous hope that maybe, just maybe, Baekhan could hold him a little more kindly—

It all swirled together into a heavy mess that left him utterly drained. He just wanted to crawl under a blanket and sleep like the dead.
***
Joo Taehyun, despite his pale-as-a-sheet complexion, didn’t let go of his phone. Even in this condition, he sat up straight with perfect posture—it was impressive enough to be slightly worrying.

He seemed to be reviewing information about the key figures attending today’s event and rehearsing what he would say to the lab staff, since he hadn’t shown his face there recently, citing health reasons.
As always, Joo Taehyun was doing his utmost in his role as Seo Baekhan’s spouse.
Anyone who saw him would instinctively suggest that he lie down and rest—Taehyun’s condition really wasn’t good.

If today’s event weren’t the academic conference being held at Pyongyang University, or if that bastard Kim Seungjun hadn’t spread those absurd rumors, Seo Baekhan would’ve been the first to tell him to rest. After all, he was the one who triggered it all. And he didn’t want anyone saying he dragged his visibly sick spouse out just to save face.
But thanks to Taehyun looking so visibly exhausted today, it was unlikely anyone would dare bring up the Switch rumors in front of him. And those malicious comments about him quitting an American university only to skip out on lab work—those would probably die down, too.
...Not that he’d meant to screw him to this degree just to achieve that result.

Seo Baekhan knew he’d gone a bit overboard.
It started with Chun Seungpil. That bastard—and Taehyun, too—were both spouting ridiculous crap, and it got under his skin. So he went all in, taking out his frustration on Taehyun...
And after that, he didn’t even remember why—he just kept screwing him. Greedily. Filthily.

Like someone who’d die if he didn’t get Taehyun pregnant right this second. Hell, Taehyun had swallowed so much of his cum that he ended up dry heaving a few times—that said it all.
His body was toned from regular exercise, firm to the touch. But even when Seo Baekhan grabbed Taehyun’s chest with all his strength, the only sensation was elasticity and tautness. That soft, plump feeling he liked so much—it wasn’t there at all.
Maybe it was the arousal, maybe just the fact that he was naked—his stiff, perked nipples weren’t especially exciting either. Though it was fascinating that just tugging and squeezing them like handles made Taehyun moan so pathetically. They were still small, but if he kept playing with them, they’d probably get bigger, more sensitive. It was just a small curiosity he indulged.

So, in summary: they hadn’t done anything especially kinky or tender, no fancy tricks or new positions, and yet—he just kept getting hard, kept cumming.
It was the faint unfamiliar scent wafting off of Taehyun—his pheromones. That had to be it. Nothing else could explain it.