Pink Flavor Omega

#23

“…What?”

“I asked him to be my bride. But Eunhong ran away because he didn’t like it, and I got angry and chased after him… Eunhong climbed up a tree. He had nowhere else to run because I was chasing him too eagerly.”

Kyunghee almost burst out laughing in front of the serious-faced Jaeha.

“But Jaeha, Eunhong is a boy, and the doctor said Eunhong will become a beta when he grows up. You know that, right?”

“But…”

“I heard you’ll grow up to be an amazing alpha, your mom told me. So you should meet a kind and pretty omega bride who suits you well.”

Jaeha’s eyes widened. Tears quickly welled up and spilled over. Kyunghee, flustered, hugged Jaeha to comfort him. For a moment, she wondered if she had been too harsh with the child.

He was a child who had always acted cold and distant. She had been worried even as she headed to the hospital, leaving him with a dedicated teacher who was instructed not to take their eyes off the children. Though she had no choice, she couldn’t shake off her concerns. Even though it was her own son, she worried that the naive Eunhong might get hit or hurt. Kyunghee felt sorry for having looked at Jaeha with wary eyes all this time and hugged him tightly.

After crying for a long time, Jaeha fiddled with the hem of Kyunghee’s clothes and hesitantly opened his mouth. His tear-filled words were interrupted by hiccups.

“…But, my dad, said…”

“Hm?”

“He said it smells sweet.”

Sweet? Kyunghee looked down at Jaeha with puzzled eyes.

“He said when you meet your bride, you’ll know right away because they smell so good.”

“…”

“Eunhong smells so good, auntie.”

Jaeha slowly opened his eyelids as he woke from the dream. It had been a very long time since he’d had such a dream. He blinked to return to reality. As he slowly brushed up his disheveled hair, he suddenly sat up. His body, which had been pumped full of drugs throughout the rut period, was still heavy and his head was foggy. Jaeha cracked his stiff neck and walked out to the living room.

He checked his phone, but there were no messages from Eunhong. After looking at it for a moment, Jaeha soon tapped the screen to make a call somewhere.

– Yes, Director Lee.

“Hello, Secretary Kim. Is everything alright at home?”

Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, he opened the refrigerator and took out water and salad. Small noises and Lee Jaeha’s voice flowed through the quiet house. He skillfully prepared tomatoes and avocados, mixed them in a salad bowl, and sat down.

“Yes. Similar composition to last month. Don’t send too much because mother doesn’t like it, just some Korean beef and ginseng. And some fruit too.”

– Understood. I’ll select the best quality products and send them to Eunhong’s family home today, and I’ll let you know.

“Yes, thank you. Good work.”

Jaeha poked at the salad with his fork and rested his chin on his hand. He cast his gaze somewhere in the house. The 8-person table was excessively long. The sofa arranged in a ㄷ shape was too big. The pitch-black TV screen looked like a well dug into the wall. It seemed like something might crawl out at any moment.

The central living room, open up to the second floor, had a ceiling that was too high. Although well-lit and warm, it looked desolate and cold to the eye. The empty rooms were all spotlessly clean without a speck of dust, but they had no signs of use and didn’t smell of people at all.

“Hmm…”

Jaeha took out his phone and started typing a message.

***

[I found something I want to keep in my house.]

Achoo! Eunhong was looking at his phone after the message notification when he sneezed heavily. Yoo Junseok in the next seat handed him a tissue without even turning his head. Eunhong blew his nose with a flushed face.

“Are you protesting like this because I didn’t let you take a vacation?”

Shim AD said grumpily as he put down a steaming mug on Eunhong’s desk. Despite his words, he thoughtfully provided fever patches and cold medicine. Eunhong smiled broadly.

The office was almost empty because it was Christmas Eve. Most people had reluctantly taken time off despite their superiors’ scolding. Only the carelessly hung string lights on the windows blinked, creating some atmosphere.

“Do you want to submit a half-day off and go home early?”

Shim AD asked again, unable to leave Eunhong’s side as he kept blowing his nose. Eunhong shook his head. Today was the day he had been eagerly waiting for to see a musical.

“Even if I go home, I’ll just work. And I have somewhere to go in the evening. It’s closer from here than from home, so I’m just going to hang in there.”

“Don’t be stubborn. It’s sad if you get sick. People who live alone shouldn’t get sick.”

His voice sounded almost like a lament as he dragged his slippers back to his seat. Sympathetic laughter that sounded like sighs flowed from various parts of the office. Eunhong also smiled sheepishly and took out his phone to check the message.

[You.]

Another message had just come in.

“Ah, the kid’s gone a bit crazy…”

After candidly sharing about the rut with Eunhong, Jaeha had been acting like he’d lost his mind. All weekend long after parting that Friday night, he’d been spouting unfiltered comments about how good Eunhong’s scent was, how delicious his lips were. He was like a car with its brakes released.

“Ah, really, what should I do with him.”

Eunhong’s face turned bright red again as he recalled the kiss. He was already dizzy with fever, and with this kind of stimulation, the fever patch he had just put on quickly lost its function and became hot.

Eunhong kept remembering Jaeha’s tongue and slapped his own mouth. Ah, that feeling. What should I really do? As he was pulling his hair, Yoo Junseok in the next seat shook his head. He couldn’t be happy seeing his longtime colleague going crazy.

Eunhong rested his hot forehead on one hand and looked down at the phone on his desk. He aimlessly scratched the phone screen with his finger. He couldn’t even open the messaging app for fear that the number 1 might disappear.

That’s right. Eunhong was avoiding Jaeha. Although he had only managed to hold out for two days. When Jaeha seemed ready to break down his door over the weekend, Eunhong had said he’d go down to Busan if Jaeha did that, which barely calmed him down. You avoided me during your rut, so this much is nothing in comparison, right?

Eunhong recalled Jaeha at the convenience store. The way his hands subtly touched him, and that yearning expression… What Jaeha wanted from him was clearly not the role of a friend.

The implications of that kiss were explicit and clear. Then how does he plan to deal with the pheromones? What if another rut comes? With these complicated thoughts, Eunhong banged his head on the desk.

“Oh my! Ban team! What’s really wrong with you?”

Eunhong turned his head to look at Yoo Junseok while still resting it on the desk, letting out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong? You’ll make the ground sink. Did you fight with your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend…?”

Eunhong sighed again, enough to make the ground sink.

Would Jaeha have done the same to his rut partners? With such tender and desperate eyes. Would he have touched, kissed, and hugged them like that?

What am I expecting from you?

Sigh… I don’t know what face to show Jaeha.

As he was going down to the lobby to clock out, Woohyun approached. He put both hands in his pockets and leaned his upper body to scan around Eunhong’s shoulders. Thinking he was picking another fight, Eunhong frowned, which caused a stabbing headache, perhaps due to the fever.

“Is Younghyun from the program team at work today?”

Eunhong’s eyes widened at the out-of-nowhere question.

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me? Do you have plans with Younghyun?”

“I asked because you have a strong omega pheromone scent on you.”

Eunhong made a disgusted face. Now not only alphas but even omegas are leaving their pheromones on me? He brushed off his shoulders with his hands.

“That doesn’t come off by brushing.”

Woohyun snickered and said,

“What are you doing for Christmas? Meeting Jaeha again?”

“What? No?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not like I’m dating him or anything, why do you think I only meet him? I’m going to stay home and draw for the competition on Christmas.”

Woohyun frowned as he watched Eunhong jump as if stung by something. He thought it was odd how worked up Eunhong was getting over nothing. Seeing Eunhong’s face quickly turn red, he clicked his tongue.

“Fine. You hopeless cases keep sticking together like cockroaches. That bastard should be with an omega, what’s an alpha doing acting like he’s impotent.”

“You really…”

“Same goes for you. How old are you now, staying cooped up at home drawing pictures like a loner. Stop chasing after that hopeless alpha all the time. Find a beta who suits you.”

Woohyun grabbed and stretched Eunhong’s cheek as he turned his head, irritated.

“Exercise a bit too. What kind of man is this soft and flabby?”

“Mind your own business.”

Eunhong was too tired to deal with him. Who knows why he’s picking on someone who’s just minding their own business. Probably his alpha partner isn’t doing what he wants. Maybe he got stood up on Christmas. Serves him right. Eunhong waved Woohyun off like shooing away a fly and left the building.