Pink Flavor Omega

#12

***

Eunhong held the wood-worn door and exhaled a shallow breath. Through the red letters on the glass saying “Pajeon” and “Blood Clams,” he could see Woohyun and his friends. As Eunhong hesitantly opened the door and entered, his friend greeted him with a raised hand.

“Oh! Eunhong! Over here!”

Jang Haesung, rather plump for an omega, bustled to take Eunhong’s bag and coat. He rolled the coat into the round chair seat and urged Eunhong to sit down quickly.

“Hong’s here. Hurry, pick up your chopsticks. The meat’s all grilled.”

Kang Hanjae, busy grilling meat, started placing meat on Eunhong’s plate before he even sat down. It had been a while since he’d seen them, but they were still the same. Having dated since high school and now married, they worked well together. As Kang Hanjae served the meat, Jang Haesung filled the drinks.

Eunhong greeted his friends halfheartedly as usual and sat down. Due to the round iron table, he inevitably sat next to Woohyun.

Woohyun was drinking soju without even looking at Eunhong. He was refilling his own glass, and no one was stopping him. The bottle in front of him was already nearly empty.

“Mix soju?”

At Jang Haesung’s question, Eunhong shook his head and reached for a beer glass, but Woohyun silently mixed soju for him. Eunhong frowned but pretended not to notice. Kang Hanjae, who had been rolling his eyes between the two, seized the moment and waved both hands.

“Hey, come on. Drink, drink. We’ve known each other for so long, have a drink and cheer up.”

As Eunhong just held his glass and stared, Woohyun downed his glass in one go. It wasn’t the first time Eunhong had seen Woohyun act like this. Instead of the ticklish words of apology in his stomach, it was a rough toast and a dismissal.

Eunhong, not to be outdone, gulped down his somaek. Perhaps because more than half was soju, it was extremely bitter. His face scrunched up involuntarily.

Several more rounds of bomb shots went around with the meat. Everyone except Jang Haesung, who didn’t drink, was on the verge of death. Eunhong, tired from consecutive nights of overtime, was so drunk his head was buzzing.

Kang Hanjae, watching the two, spoke in a calm tone.

“Hey, frankly speaking, Woohyun, you should be grateful to Hong. You owe him so much. Our Hong is a beta friend who puts up with all your omega tantrums.”

“Hanjae, honey. What do you mean by ‘omega tantrums’?”

Jang Haesung frowned at his partner’s sudden remark. Even Woohyun, sitting across, smiled with a sour expression.

“You’re really making a fuss. What about alphas then? Rut-like tantrums?”

Kang Hanjae opened his eyes wide.

“Hey, I’m not joking. Ah! Jang Haesung, get your face out of the way.”

Kang Hanjae pushed away Jang Haesung’s face as he lunged at him, tapping the table with his chopsticks.

“You shouldn’t take it for granted that Hong puts up with your temper. And Hong, don’t laugh. You’re a beta, so just be more generous. You know how hard it is for us with traits, right?”

If it weren’t for the traits, would I be living with Jang Haesung! Kang Hanjae mixed half-truth and half-joke, irritating his partner.

“Let’s just live easily and casually.”

“Easily and casually?”

“Yeah, what’s there to be hard about for a beta? Right?”

Eunhong, who couldn’t understand the difficulties of a 2-star trait bearer, just smiled bitterly. The swirling alcohol made Eunhong more generous. Or maybe more dejected. Eunhong just nodded repeatedly, agreeing that they were all right, that he was wrong too.

Eunhong stood up unsteadily. As his knees buckled and he almost grabbed the grill, Jang Haesung panicked and supported him. Leaving his friends busy cleaning up the spilled alcohol, Eunhong headed to the restroom outside the bar.

It was snowing outside. As the cold air hit his face, Eunhong felt a bit sobered up and rubbed his face. Right. What’s there to be hard about for a beta? Eunhong nodded to himself as he walked.

As he came out of the restroom and tried to return to the bar, someone blocked Eunhong’s path. Eunhong, who had been looking at the ground while walking, tried to step aside, but the other person moved in the same direction. After being blocked a couple more times, Eunhong irritably looked up. Whoof, a familiar cigarette smoke wafted over his face.

“Hey, your pheromones are totally my type.”

Eunhong’s face scrunched up to the limit. The cigarette smoke made him think of Lee Jaeha without realizing it. He got even more angry because he momentarily felt glad. The face in front of him wasn’t the quality he expected, making him feel sick.

“Please move aside.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

The man took another step closer to Eunhong. Although Eunhong couldn’t smell pheromones, the man emitted all sorts of unpleasant odors regardless.

“I saw inside, you and your friend next to you are both omegas, right?”

“I’m not an omega, you know?”

“Don’t say that. We alphas all know, want to hang out with us?”

The looking-down gaze blatantly contained dirty implications. Eunhong sighed. It wasn’t the first time he’d been mistaken for an omega, and he knew words wouldn’t work with guys like this.

Eunhong tried to take out his phone to show his trait certificate. As he fumbled in his pocket, his phone wasn’t there. Huh? Did he drop it in the restroom? The moment he turned his head, the man grabbed Eunhong’s shoulder.

***

Jaeha had been in a foul mood all day. Not only because of the strong medicine he had to inject into his veins every day, but being cooped up at home was boring him to death. Outside, the pheromones rolling around like thorns and all sorts of smells tormented Jaeha. Above all, he missed Eunhong terribly. But inviting Eunhong home was even more dangerous. It was hard to guarantee how he would behave towards his friend who had no pheromones, given that he went into rut even when he was normal.

After calling briefly at Eunhong’s quitting time and hanging up, Jaeha ate as Eunhong had told him to. He picked at the food the housekeeper had left, not even bothering to heat it up, and then poured his evening medicine down his throat. Crumpled up on the large sofa, he kept pressing the remote control and habitually checked the time. It was well past the time Eunhong should have arrived home, but with no call coming, Jaeha started to get anxious.

If Professor Choi or his grandfather’s close associates saw him like this, they would say he was in critical condition. A broken alpha going into rut for a beta without pheromones… A coward obsessing over unrequited feelings without the courage to confess… In fact, even he had trouble defining these emotions, so he had no words to excuse himself.

Jaeha kept chewing his lips and finally couldn’t resist calling Eunhong.

– Hello?

“……”

Woohyun, who had repeated “Hello? Hello?” several times on the other end of the line, realized that Lee Jaeha had hung up without answering as soon as he heard his voice.

“Tch. What was Eunhong’s password again?”

When he picked up Eunhong’s dropped phone and put it on the table, he hadn’t thought much of it. That is, until the name ‘Jaeha’ appeared on the screen and it started ringing.

Woohyun glanced towards the door of the restaurant. Eunhong had gone to the bathroom and there was no sign of him, possibly throwing up. Kang Hanjae and Jang Haesung had been arguing for a while now. Couples’ fights should be at home, tsk tsk. Woohyun fidgeted with Eunhong’s phone, his leg shaking.

“2, 5, 8, 0…”

Eunhong’s phone unlocked on the second try. He thought it would be either the front door password or the computer password, and his hunch was right. Woohyun was about to call Lee Jaeha from the call log but changed his mind and took out his own phone.

After quickly saving Lee Jaeha’s number, Woohyun tossed Eunhong’s phone aside and walked out of the restaurant with a cigarette in his mouth. Sitting on a red plastic chair, he lit up, took a deep drag, and called without hesitation.

– Yes.

Shit, his voice is fucking good. Woohyun almost dropped his cigarette ash on his knee.

“Is this Lee Jaeha?”

– …Who is this?

“Ah, this is An Woohyun, Eunhong’s friend… You know me, right?”

– ……

When Jaeha didn’t answer, an anxious Woohyun jumped up from his seat. The red plastic chair toppled over from his impatient movement.

– …I know. How did you get my number?

“Eunhong told me to call you. He was wondering if you’d like to meet.”

– Where is Eunhong?

“Eunhong is partying at the next table. He’s wasted.”

– …Where are you now?

Got him. Woohyun inwardly celebrated. Of course, what alpha would refuse an omega?

“Are you coming out? Then let’s meet halfway without any hassle. I’m in Jayang-dong, where are you now, Jaeha?”

– ……

“Lee Jaeha?”

There was no sound, so when he pulled the phone away from his ear, the screen was black. The call had been disconnected. Woohyun hurriedly called again.

– The customer cannot take your call. Please try again later.

No matter how many times he redialed, the same message kept playing. Lee Jaeha had undoubtedly blocked his number. Woohyun’s face twisted unpleasantly.

“Ah fuck, you bastard. So fucking annoying.”

Woohyun spat on the ground. He cursed as he shoved his phone into his back pocket. He finished the remaining cigarette in two drags and was about to turn around when he spotted Eunhong and some man arguing in the distance.