Pink Flavor Omega

#22

“You, you crazy bastard. Why have you always been like this with your expressions?”

Jaeha hugged Eunhong tighter. It seemed like he was cursing under his breath. Eunhong became more and more confused. He, a beta, and Jaeha, an alpha…. We who were friends…. What was this? The most bewildering thing was how easily his own heart fluttered at each touch.

“I’m an alpha, and you’re a beta…. We’re friends. Don’t you find me strange like this?”

Yes, that’s right. It was already strange enough.

“Now that you’ve discovered my true nature, you’re in big trouble, Bunhong.”

Eunhong separated himself from Jaeha. He searched his friend’s eyes, trying to grasp the exact meaning.

Then his eyes fell on the hand touching his thigh. The other hand was caressing his face, chin, shoulder, and hand. His face, which had started to calm down, instantly flushed again. As he was rolling his eyes awkwardly, he made eye contact with a customer who was just entering the convenience store. Eunhong startled and opened his mouth.

“L-l-let’s go home first.”

Jaeha, who seemed like he would never let him go, surprisingly released him easily and stood up.

Eunhong was uncharacteristically nervous. He walked like a robot all the way to where Jaeha had parked, and even when sitting in the passenger seat, he remained stiff. When Jaeha leaned in to fasten his seatbelt, he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back.

After keeping his eyes closed for a while, he slightly opened them to find Jaeha’s face right in front of him. Hik. As he gasped in surprise, Jaeha playfully pinched his chin.

“Close your mouth. You look silly.”

Jaeha manipulated the dashboard to turn on the music. Christmas jazz began to flow into the quiet sedan. As he turned on the heater, warm air quickly filled the car. Jaeha turned to Eunhong, narrowing his eyes and smiling softly.

As the car drove on the road towards home, Eunhong’s mind raced continuously. Why is he suddenly acting like this? Were there any signals before? Did I say something wrong? He was busy with endless thoughts. Then he suddenly came to his senses when he realized they were taking a different route than usual.

“I, I want to go to my house. Turn back to my house. I’m not going to your house.”

Jaeha, who had been focusing on driving, curled up the corners of his mouth. His fingers on the steering wheel tapped to the rhythm. The music had changed to a lively carol at some point.

“Why? Afraid I might do something more? Afraid I might eat you up?”

Eunhong turned his head sharply to look at Jaeha. His large eyes were like glass marbles full of rippling water. He even felt a bit scared. He stammered, trying to find a way to stop Jaeha.

“You, you’re really… why are you like this…?”

“I told you you’re in big trouble. Now that you know everything, I don’t need to hide anymore.”

Jaeha, who had briefly glanced at Eunhong, burst into laughter.

“You also said you could handle that much between friends.”

Something seemed to have snapped in Lee Jaeha. Seeing a side of him he had never seen in the past decade or so, Eunhong mumbled with an uneasy expression.

“Is this the moment I should open the car door and jump out?”

Jaeha turned to look at Eunhong with a deep smile. The car had just stopped at an intersection for a red light.

“Do you want to? Run away now if you want.”

His slightly twisted smiling lips looked terribly seductive. Maybe it was because of the red taillights, but he even looked a bit wicked. Eunhong’s eyes rippled again.

“Why do you keep doing this…?”

Despite his words, Jaeha didn’t take Eunhong to his house. At the entrance of the hill neighborhood, Eunhong let out a shallow sigh of relief.

As he was about to grab his bag and get out of the car, Jaeha spoke.

“You know, I was really angry at first when Professor Choi hinted about your rut, but now I think it turned out well.”

Then he took Eunhong’s hand and rubbed it. His gaze moved from his round nails to the back of his hand, to his arm, to his shoulder, and finally to his face. Eunhong’s throat felt oddly dry.

“To be honest, I was reaching my limit too.”

Hiding it from you, he added in a murmur.

When Eunhong just stared at Jaeha without saying anything, Jaeha kissed his forehead. Watching his lips part with a soft sound, Eunhong stupidly rubbed his forehead. He still couldn’t quite grasp the situation.

Jaeha, with a deep smile, examined every inch of his friend Eunhong’s face, and then released him with a voice dripping with regret.

“Go inside. Get some rest.”

***

Kyunghee kissed the sleeping Eunhong’s forehead, then quietly got up. She pulled up the light blanket to cover him up to his neck. The bandage wrapped thickly enough to make his chest area bulky made Kyunghee’s heart ache. After turning on the small lamp stand, she left the room. A woman who had been anxiously biting her nails in front of the door asked urgently.

“Kyunghee! How’s Eunhong? Is he asleep?”

“Yeah, deeply. He’s okay now. Nari, don’t worry too much.”

The woman called Nari let out a heavy sigh.

“I feel so sorry. Did you see the photo? What did the doctor say?”

“Fortunately, it’s just a crack in his collarbone. It’s not broken. They just wrapped it with a bandage, and he needs to be careful for about 2 weeks.”

“I should just… that Jaeha kid!”

“No, no. Kids can get hurt while playing. Eunhong was the one who climbed up the tree. Don’t be too hard on him.”

Nari looked around angrily, searching for Jaeha. While trying to calm Nari down, Kyunghee saw a small figure hiding behind the sofa.

“Still… You’re already struggling with taking care of your husband, and after I asked you to look after my child, this happened. I feel so bad.”

“No, I’m more grateful. For taking care of our Eunhong in my place…”

Kyunghee felt even more at a loss due to Nari’s worried expression.

She was really surprised when she received the call that Nari had brought Eunhong to the emergency room while she was wiping her husband’s hands and feet in the hospital room. When she heard that Eunhong had fallen from a tree while playing with Jaeha and couldn’t raise one arm and was just crying, she did feel a surge of resentment.

But seeing Nari pacing anxiously as if it were her own child who was hurt, and Jaeha who had turned pale with shock, Kyunghee composed herself. Fortunately, the results showed that Eunhong wasn’t seriously injured, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kyunghee tried to stop Nari, who was looking for Jaeha with fierce eyes.

“Jaeha seemed pretty shocked, have you talked to him?”

“Don’t even mention it. It’s like the pot calling the kettle black. That little one got so angry because I sent him home first. He didn’t say a word and just sat in the garden waiting for you and Eunhong to come back.”

“Oh my. Did he eat dinner?”

“He didn’t. Should we eat now? You must be hungry.”

Even though Kyunghee waved her hands saying she had eaten, Nari was insistent. She ran to the kitchen, calling for the housekeeper.

Jaeha, who had been crouching behind the sofa eavesdropping, finally stood up when Nari and Kyunghee left and it became quiet. He walked carefully like a cat and turned the doorknob to open the room where Eunhong was sleeping.

His round face, illuminated by the yellow light of the sleep lamp, was buried in the pillow. Jaeha approached the bed, knelt down, and quietly looked at Eunhong’s face. After watching him breathe peacefully as if nothing had happened for a long time, he let out a shallow breath.

He gently lifted the blanket with his small hand and pulled up his t-shirt. The bandage wrapped around from both shoulders to the opposite armpit was thick. He felt upset and angry, not knowing what to do. Jaeha scrunched up his small face and finally let big tears fall.

“…Why did you run away?”

Unable to cry loudly, Jaeha sobbed and whispered.

“I got angry because you ran away.”

“…Eunhong ran away?”

Startled by the quiet voice asking, Jaeha turned his head abruptly. His face was a mess of tears and snot. Kyunghee was quite surprised by this unfamiliar side of the child, but she hid her expression and approached with a stern face.

Jaeha rarely showed emotions compared to his peers. He never expressed feelings of like or dislike, which was unlike a child. That’s why during her stay at the hospital in Seoul, she was actually worried when Nari asked to leave Eunhong at her house as Jaeha’s study buddy. If there had been another place to leave Eunhong while she was taking care of her husband’s long illness, she might not have readily agreed.

So even though it was just something she overheard in passing, Kyunghee wanted to confirm the truth.

“Jaeha. Can you tell auntie honestly? Why did Eunhong run away? Were you playing hide and seek?”

“…You’re not going to take Eunhong away, are you?”

“…”

“Are you going to stop me from playing with Eunhong now?”

The way he roughly wiped his face with his sleeve was just like a little child. His voice was full of tears, and his black eyes, filled with fear, were desperate. Kyunghee acknowledged that her view of Jaeha had been somewhat narrow until now, and softened her expression.

“No. I won’t take him away. Eunhong will continue to study with Jaeha at Jaeha’s house, just like before. Eunhong’s dad is still very sick…”

At Kyunghee’s words, Jaeha’s eyes showed relief, and then he hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I… I told Eunhong to be my bride.”