Pink Flavor Omega

#18

***

Hot air penetrated his respiratory system. The temperature had been raised just enough to keep him alive. He liked it this way because he couldn’t tell if his body was hot or if it was the air. The sound of someone knocking on the door pulled Jaeha back to consciousness. As he slowly lifted his eyelids, black eyes like go stones were revealed.

“If you stay any longer, you’ll die.”

Unable to wait any longer, Professor Choi flung open the sauna door. The rush of cold air stung his sensitive skin.

Jaeha casually draped a robe over his heated skin and slowly walked out. Sweat trickled down between his defined muscles, dripping onto the wooden floor. He did feel a bit dizzy.

He wiped his face with the towel offered by the servant and staggered towards the bedroom. His movements were full of fatigue as he flopped down.

Professor Choi followed, carrying a stainless steel tray with a syringe and ampoules. He sat on a stool next to the bed and filled the syringe with the medicine from the ampoule.

“The dosage has increased again. What on earth are you doing?”

Jaeha, face buried in the pillow, remained silent.

“It’s already concerning that your rut intervals keep getting longer, but if you keep disobeying doctor’s orders like this, it’ll be exhausting for both of us.”

“Isn’t it your job to take care of me when I’m here, Professor Choi? You seem particularly irritable today.”

Jaeha turned to face Professor Choi. The professor’s eyebrows rose at the subtle pressure to stop nagging.

“I have to be like this because you lack awareness about your own physical condition. Even though I’m an employee… I was the one who gave you your first vaccination when you were born.”

“It’s time for you to retire… Though you have been around for a long time.”

Despite his annoyed words, Professor Choi’s eyes were full of affectionate concern. He had experienced Jaeha’s grumbling nature enough to understand the feelings behind it. Professor Choi added with a deep sigh:

“You’ve doused him in pheromones as if you’re trying to pickle him… Isn’t that a bit much towards someone who doesn’t understand anything?”

Jaeha’s lips, which had been listening with an unserious attitude all along, finally twitched. This one had hit the mark. He kept forgetting that Professor Choi was a dominant alpha, even if he was quite old.

“Do it in moderation. It might have been cute when you were young, but…”

Only after administering the strong injection and confirming that Jaeha had taken his prescribed medication did Professor Choi step back. Silence fell over the room once again.

Jaeha curled up, burrowing into the blanket. He hadn’t cleaned the spot where Eunhong had slept, so it was still full of his scent. He buried himself deep into it. Even though he knew it was self-destructive, he couldn’t resist.

***

As he unwrapped the rolled packaging, salmon and onions filling a soft tortilla were revealed appetizingly. The occasional tomato added a tangy flavor that stimulated the appetite. Eunhong sucked the juice off his fingers.

Near the company, the window seat at Eunhong’s favorite sandwich shop was perfect for photosynthesis with its ample sunlight. It was a place he often came to when he wanted to have a quiet lunch alone. His phone remained stubbornly silent, its screen still pitch black. As he opened his mouth wide to take a bite, someone pulled out the chair next to him and sat down with a thud. It was Woohyun.

“Do you always eat stuff like this? You with your irregular lifestyle.”

Used to his nagging tone, Eunhong focused on chewing and swallowing without even looking at him.

“It’s not just once or twice, you’re always dozing off at night and during the day. What a great artist you’ve become.”

Woohyun swapped half of his sandwich with Eunhong’s. Only then did Eunhong’s gaze turn sideways towards Woohyun. Though he might have owl-like habits, he felt indignant at the thought that he was still better than Woohyun.

“I’m living more regularly and healthily than you. Stop wandering around so much. Where did you sleep yesterday? Where and how do you even change your clothes?”

Woohyun’s lips curled up slightly as he looked out the window, seemingly preferring the nagging to the cold treatment.

Looking at Woohyun’s profile that offered no particular response, Eunhong crumpled up the empty wrapper. He wondered if Woohyun had lost weight in the few days they hadn’t seen each other, and felt somewhat sorry about the humiliation Woohyun had suffered from Jaeha at the bar…. Eunhong rolled his eyes and spoke.

“Is your mother sick again? Has she gotten worse?”

Woohyun turned his head at the unexpected question. Their eyes met for the first time in a while.

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind if not.”

Woohyun knew what Eunhong was concerned about, but he had no particular desire to discuss it. He despised pity that didn’t come with money. Woohyun chewed his sandwich irritably and suddenly glanced at Eunhong’s phone.

“Hey, Ban Eunhong. You and that bastard Lee Jaeha…”

Woohyun knew that Eunhong’s eyes would sharpen whenever he brought up Jaeha. It happened this time too. Watching Eunhong’s face quickly put up defenses, Woohyun thought of Jaeha.

The Jaeha he had seen in person was far more shocking than the one he had seen in internet photos or Eunhong’s phone pictures. His first impression was so intimidating and intense that it felt like what a modern-day aristocrat would be like. The extremely dominant alpha who stood in the middle of the shabby pub, arrogantly lifting his chin and pouring out pheromones, was unrealistically beautiful.

The scene of him getting angry, baring his canines while holding Eunhong under one arm, was like something out of a drama. It was exactly like the typical classic scene of an alpha showing possessiveness towards an omega.

Woohyun stopped mid-sentence and smiled sardonically. It was going to be a bad ending anyway. Eunhong, being a beta, could never give that guy what he needed. As he thought this far, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up. Woohyun smiled brightly and patted Eunhong’s back.

“Never mind. Eat well. I’m going first.”

“You’re so fickle.”

After Woohyun left, Eunhong took a bite of the half sandwich Woohyun had swapped and immediately spat it out. His face contorted and turned red.

“Ah, even after ten years, that guy still doesn’t know I can’t eat wasabi, really.”

He was a master at ruining appetites, as always.

***

The messenger at the bottom of the monitor status bar pushed up a notification window with a ding. Eunhong poked his head out and looked towards the person who had sent the message. Shim AD was wiggling two fingers. It meant “come here.”

As Eunhong stood up and went behind Shim AD, he saw his own work displayed on the monitor. Eunhong’s shoulders tensed slightly with nervousness.

“This, why did you do this part like this?”

“Ah… yes. The planning team asked to emphasize red there. I thought it would look better if there were more details there… I intentionally left the opposite side empty.”

Shim AD stroked his chin, lost in thought at Eunhong’s explanation.

“You did well. You did well, but you know you lack a bit of grit, right Eunhong? There’s always a feeling that you stop right before. You have good intuition, but try to dig a little deeper with the mindset of looking more.”

Eunhong’s cheekbones rose at the unexpected praise, having expected to be scolded.

“Because what you make gets good responses, because it sells well, have a bit more courage. When you leave things empty, boldly use larger areas. That’s better for secondary work too. OK?”

“Yes sir!”

As Eunhong was about to return to his seat with a grin, Shim AD spun his chair around and looked up at Eunhong. When Eunhong’s eyes widened, Shim AD asked in a low voice:

“How’s that contest entry going? You didn’t give up, right?”

He must have been concerned about what he had said before. Eunhong smiled brightly, pulling up the corners of his mouth.

“No. No, I didn’t give up. I’m working hard on it at home.”

“Yeah? Do your best till the end. If you need any advice, let me know. I’ll take a look.”

“Thank you!”

As Eunhong returned to his seat with his shoulders high in elation, Yoo Junseok gave him a thumbs up. Eunhong’s mood improved for once.

But as he picked up his phone intending to boast, his raised shoulders dropped back down. Eunhong opened the message chat with Jaeha again. The screen full of only his own messages made him feel even more miserable.

“How can he ignore me for three days?”

What on earth was this rut… Eunhong’s thoughts drifted back to that topic. What could be keeping him so busy that he couldn’t even send one message? Was he that engrossed in ‘that’?

He was suddenly reminded of last winter when Jaeha had disappeared for nearly a month, saying he was going on an overseas business trip. At the time, he had naively believed the excuse about not being able to contact him. Eunhong suddenly became furious, his eyes blazing. Come to think of it, he had deliberately lied then too!

If that’s the case, then he had been in rut for that whole month back then too…

Eunhong’s eyes widened before he squeezed them shut. He suddenly remembered a documentary he had seen once. It was about large deer with beautiful antlers living near the North Pole, focusing on the breeding season struggles of the lead deer treated as the most superior in the herd.

The ‘alpha’ deer, the leader, was said to mate with different partners throughout the month. During this time, it couldn’t eat or sleep, becoming emaciated, and if it showed any weakness, it would be attacked by other healthy male deer. In other words, it had to mate desperately until all the female deer in the herd were pregnant.

Cold sweat trickled down Eunhong’s cheeks. His tightly clenched fists trembled. Ha… Lee Jaeha, that beast.

“He couldn’t have really spent a whole month doing just that, right? …That, huh? What even is ‘that’?!”

Eunhong let out an internal scream, talking to himself as if experiencing a split personality.