Pink Flavor Omega

#14

Jaeha practically threw Eunhong into the passenger seat and closed the door. He stood in a corner of the parking lot and chain-smoked three cigarettes. Having given his coat to Eunhong, he was in short sleeves but didn’t feel the cold.

“…Hah.”

When he rushed out to find Eunhong after losing his senses at An Woohyun’s words, he hadn’t anticipated this scenario. Jaeha had simply planned to pick up a moderately drunk Eunhong, take him home, and then quietly return to his own place.

Eunhong was sleeping in the car. Jaeha took a few deep breaths before getting in. As he started the engine and was about to drive off, the seatbelt alarm went off.

“…”

Jaeha gently lifted Eunhong’s head, which was slumped against the window. He leaned his head against the headrest and pulled the seatbelt, but Eunhong suddenly buried his face in Jaeha’s neck. His moist lips left an imprint on Jaeha’s neck before falling away.

Jaeha took a deep breath as if he’d been struck. He clenched his jaw and turned his head. He reclined the seat to make Eunhong more comfortable and fastened his seatbelt.

He should have pulled away.

His gaze, unable to look directly at his lips, lingered on Eunhong’s philtrum. His breath, flowing downward, seemed almost visible.

Jaeha approached as if entranced.

Just a little… wouldn’t be so bad, right?

The closer he got, the more painfully his heart pounded. He felt like taking just one bite would cure all his pain.

Jaeha’s lips nearly brushed against Eunhong’s. His lowered eyelashes fluttered slightly. As their breaths mingled, the pheromones he had barely kept in check threatened to burst forth.

Just one bite…. As Jaeha was about to unlock the restraints he had placed on himself—

Knock knock knock.

Someone tapped on the heavily tinted car window. A silhouette leaned close, as if trying to peer inside. Jaeha startled, straightened up, and lowered the window slightly. A middle-aged man with a furrowed brow glanced inside the car and spoke gruffly.

“Hey, could you move your car quickly? I’ve been waiting for a while…”

“Ah, …yes. I’m sorry.”

Jaeha closed the window and breathed heavily. Even after exhaling roughly several times, puffing out his cheeks, he couldn’t calm down. It was useless trying to expel the scent he had inhaled. The entire car was filled with pink.

As he hurriedly left the parking lot and slowly drove on the road, Jaeha had to shift uncomfortably due to the tightness between his legs.

***

As Jaeha carried Eunhong on his back into the elevator, he suddenly burst out laughing. It started as a low chuckle in his throat, but soon turned into full-bodied laughter that shook his upper body, forcing him to hitch Eunhong up to prevent him from slipping.

He was stunned by his own actions, unable to believe what he was doing.

On the way here with Eunhong in the passenger seat, Jaeha had been torn. Should he drop him off at his home, or put him up in a hotel? Neither option appealed to him. An Woohyun would likely be at his home, and as for the hotel… he just didn’t want to leave Bunhong alone in a hotel.

So he brought him to his place. During his rut period.

You’ve lost it, Lee Jaeha.

It was last winter. During his rut, he had gone crazy and beaten someone nearly to death. It had been so painful and agonizing then. His whole body felt like it was being wrung out. To Jaeha, whose senses were razor-sharp, the pheromones of an unfamiliar omega were as stimulating as a sharpened knife peeling away layers of his skin. But now….

Jaeha gazed at Eunhong sleeping on his back through the mirror. He was wrapped up in his coat, dead to the world. His cheek was pressed against him, and he was even drooling. So that’s why his back felt damp. Jaeha barely suppressed another burst of laughter.

“Oh, you… what am I going to do with you…”

Jaeha carried Eunhong into the bedroom and practically dropped him on the bed. As he removed his coat, shoes, and socks one by one, Eunhong mumbled incoherently.

After putting away his things, he came back and was startled. Eunhong had suddenly sat up like a zombie. Jaeha lightly patted the cheek of Eunhong, who was blinking slowly.

“Eunhong. Ban Eunhong. Let’s wash up and go to sleep.”

“No, no… It’s cold… I don’t wanna…”

Eunhong hugged himself, shrugging his shoulders. Is he really cold? Jaeha turned his head to look at the thermometer on the wall.

“I can’t get up…”

Mumbling, Eunhong suddenly hugged Jaeha’s thigh. Cold, cold, he rubbed his head against him. Jaeha looked down at Eunhong for a moment, then sighed deeply and detached him.

“Stay seated. I’ll bring you some water.”

As he crossed the living room to get water, Jaeha raised the temperature of the entire house. He picked up a shawl that had fallen to the floor and tossed it onto the sofa, then adjusted the central lighting to lower the brightness. He filled a cup with lukewarm water and added some vitamins.

“…”

Jaeha stopped in front of the bedroom door where Eunhong was. His hand holding the water cup was trembling slightly. Jaeha covered his face with his free hand. He could feel how hot his face was. The tips of his ears felt like they were on fire.

It’s harder than I thought. He clenched and unclenched his fist, tensed his hand, and entered the room. Eunhong had already lain down again.

“Drink this water.”

“…”

“Drink it and go to sleep.”

Jaeha lifted the unresponsive Eunhong. His body was as limp as a mollusk. Eunhong, barely sitting up, drained the water refreshingly and then looked at Jaeha with drowsy eyes. He wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand and reproached Jaeha in a languid voice.

“…Lee Jaeha, you were too harsh earlier. They’ve been my friends since high school, you know.”

He could barely pronounce words properly, yet the first thing he said was to scold him. Jaeha felt a surge of irritation at this. The memory of An Woohyun’s astringent persimmon-like pheromones came to mind. It was an experience he didn’t want to remember.

“Don’t be friends with people like that.”

At Jaeha’s curt words, Eunhong’s eyes narrowed sharply. He curled his middle finger, resting it against his thumb, and brought it to his forehead to flick him, but Jaeha grabbed his wrist.

“What’s this?”

Not giving up, he raised his other hand, but that one was caught too.

“Huh?”

With both wrists caught, Eunhong smiled deeply, his eyes almost disappearing. Jaeha was distracted by this again. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse, Eunhong sprang up like a coiled spring and headbutted Jaeha.

A terrible sound echoed through the room.

“Hehe, you thought I couldn’t hit you if you held my hands. Lee— Jaeha. You underestimated me too much!”

Blood trickled through the fingers covering Jaeha’s face in bewilderment. He blinked in disbelief. His heart had been racing, captivated by his smiling face, and suddenly stars exploded before his eyes. When he came to his senses, he realized his nose was bleeding profusely.

“Ban… Eunhong…”

“Ah, Jaeha. My head hurts so much… Why? Ah, Mom, I think I cracked my head. Call 119.”

Jaeha stared intently at Eunhong, who was rolling around on the bed complaining of a headache, then got up. His nose wasn’t broken, was it? Covering the flowing blood with both hands as he headed to the bathroom, Jaeha laughed helplessly in disbelief.

Left alone in the room, Eunhong tossed and turned a few times before finding a comfortable position and starting to fall asleep. He smacked his lips a few times before exhaling with a “pff.”

When Jaeha returned from the bathroom after stopping the bleeding, Eunhong was fast asleep. As he was wiping Eunhong’s hands and feet with a warm towel, Jaeha noticed the wound on his palm and furrowed his brow.

“I bet it was because of those bastards.”

He roughly opened the bedside table drawer, causing the medicines inside to rattle. Finding an ointment among the many medicines, Jaeha carefully applied it and even put on a thick gauze bandage.

Eunhong slightly furrowed his round forehead, perhaps because touching the wound stung. His neat eyebrows twitched. Jaeha gently pressed his eyebrows with his fingertips to smooth them out.

Below his white forehead was a clean nose bridge that looked as if it had been drawn in one stroke. His round eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, only showed a strong double eyelid line when closed. Even with Eunhong’s eyes closed, Jaeha could imagine the pale-colored irises hidden beneath his eyelids.

Gazing down at Eunhong, Jaeha ran his damp hand through his hair. When he parted his hair in a 2:8 ratio and smoothed it down, his round forehead looked adorably plump. He pressed his cheeks to make fish lips, then pinched his nose. His small nostrils turned white, then red.

Perhaps he had played too much with the sleeping person, as Eunhong stirred and moved. His plump lips moved as if speaking, and Jaeha leaned in, tilting his ear to listen.

“…Lee… Jaeha…”

As Eunhong called his name in a sleep-filled voice, Jaeha felt a tickle in his chest. He was listening to see if there were any other words mixed in with his mumbling syllables when Eunhong turned over and pulled Jaeha’s neck towards him.

Before he could shake him off and get up, he hugged him tightly and planted a kiss on his temple as if headbutting him. As Jaeha froze, his actions became increasingly bold and uninhibited.

Blind kisses showered his forehead, eyes, nose bridge, and cheeks. Slowly, deliberately, it was more like he was tracing the contours of his face with his lips rather than giving playful pecks.